A federal judge on Monday preliminarily approved a $118 million partial settlement in the Broadcom shareholder derivative litigation. Lawyers for shareholders asked U.S. District Judge Manuel L. Real to impose a $50,000 fine against Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom for discovery violations, but the judge declined.

Skadden, which represents former chief financial officer William J. Ruehle, has spent months fighting a request for 140 documents that summarize interviews from the FBI's investigation into Broadcom's stock options program. In late August, a special master overseeing discovery ordered the firm to produce all the documents. "What part of the word 'all' don't these people understand?" Richard Heimann, of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein in San Francisco asked Real rhetorically. "Is this type of behavior acceptable in federal court -- is it acceptable in this court?"

"You're about to find out," Real replied. Real ruled document production was not a threat to Ruehle's Fifth Amendment rights, but rejected Heimann's calls that Skadden pay $50,000 out of its own coffers. He scheduled a final hearing for approval of the partial derivative settlement for Dec. 14, 2009.