John Johnson, chief investment officer of the Wyoming Retirement System, was one of three defendants that had criminal charges brought against them Tuesday by federal prosecutors as a result of a government insider-trading probe.

The founder of a Texas pension consulting firm who pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a “pay to play” scheme at the New York state pension fund will not have to serve jail time, a state judge ruled on Wednesday.

On the heels of KPCB’s brewing legal saga, a former principal at Pantheon Ventures, Carol Foster, has sued the firm for gender and age discrimination, as well as defamation, according to a lawsuit filed in Superior Court of California.

A former principal at Pantheon Ventures, Carol Foster, has sued the firm for gender and age discrimination, as well as defamation, according to a lawsuit filed in Superior Court of California, writes Reuters. Foster is asking for compensatory, punitive and special damages, writes Reuters.

Increasingly, startups are likely to take on courtroom battles–coming at a time when their big strategic counterparts are also spending big on their legal strategies. But can NPEs squeeze the life out of Silicon Valley?

With so many ways to keep under the radar–and, keep on the wrong side of the law, allegedly–it is no wonder so many big-time frauds have been able to perpetrate their scams undetected by their own investors, peHUB’s Tuesday Guest Post-er says.

A lot of questions and blame still lingers from Facebook’s IPO. Now, legal experts and investors are saying the company’s stock didn’t preclude some secondary market buyers from making immediate exits once the startup became a listed company.

This slideshow highlights some of Pao’s more notable accusations and Kleiner’s responses.

Kleiner Perkins didn’t disappoint those eager to hear its response to claims by Partner Ellen Pao that the firm had discriminated against her because of her gender. Its seven-page legal answer refutes every claim made against it.

Legal experts say Kleiner has three options to respond to Partner Ellen Pao’s discrimination suit: (1) answer the complaint, in which the firm would largely deny the allegations that are most critical to Pao’s claims; (2) file a motion to dismiss the lawsuit or (3) file a countersuit.