"Nate Thoma stood up in a Delaware bankruptcy court last December in a sharkskin suit and delivered a 24-minute argument that changed the course of one of the largest bankruptcies in U.S. history."

The Wall Street Journal reports on the 33-year-old investor with no legal experience who had thought Judge Mary Walrath wouldn't listen to what he had to say:

"But halfway through, I noticed she was paying attention," he says. "I realized she was going to let me go on, and I went for broke."...

But this battle is likely to be his last. He says that despite his success, his experience has left him disillusioned.

"The thrill is gone," he says. "It's such a big game, [individuals] just can't compete. I'm picking up freelance Web work again."