Big win.

Kent L. Richland of Greines Martin Stein & Richland LLP recently recorded the sort of legal moment some attorneys wait a career for. The Supreme Court ruled in his favor of his client, former Playboy pinup and current TrimSpa spokesmodel Vickie Lynn Marshall, better known Anna Nicole Smith,

Marshall married law professor-turned oil magnate J. Howard Marshall II in 1994, just 14 months before he died. She claims that J. Howard intended to give her millions from his estate but was thwarted by his son, Pierce.

So, Richland is elated, right?

"I hate to say it this way, but it's more of a relief I didn't lose," Richland said. "It's very exciting. But, as part of the process of learning your case and being prepared, you know your case so well, that you convince yourself you're right. When everyone agrees with you, you think, 'Of course they agree with me.'"

The ruling was narrower than Richland had hoped, too. Justice John Paul Stevens favored an award to Marshall, but the majority of justices ruled that the case should be kicked back to lower courts for Marshall to pursue her claim.

"If Stevens' opinion had been the main one, we'd have been done," Richland said.

A federal bankruptcy judge and federal district judge in California both ruled for Marshall, and awarded her $88 million in 2002. But a Texas probate court had ruled in favor of Pierce in 2001 and a California appellate court let the probate decision stand. The Supreme Court's unanimous and precedent-making move overruled the probate court and said Marshall may proceed in quest for the money she said her husband promised her.

The appellate firm's lead partner Irving Greines is handling another case involving a high-profile client. He's representing billionaire Ron Burkle in his divorce from estranged wife Janet Burkle.