"I find the Folson statement rather amazing in light of the Confidentiality Clause associated with J3 settlement, assuming of course the "pending, first filed" cases are those involving us and the J3 (though I cannot fathom what else they could possibly be)."

Maybe you were busy typing ;-) but earlier I countered the optimism with the below-

TPL are representatives for MMP and one other non-MMP patent portfolio in this case (the name escapes me). It would still be correct to refer to these "cases" (plural) as "pending" would it not?

It certainly still fits with a contingency theory but I don't think this latest pacer confirms it without a doubt. JMO