Jim Quinn, the lawyer representing CBS, called it “a minor skirmish in a long battle” and predicted that the fraud charge would be dismissed again because “it’s frivolous.”

Image Dan Rather was anchor of the CBS Evening News. Credit... Saul Loeb/A.F.P. — Getty Images

He added of Mr. Rather’s day in court, “Was it favorable for him? Yes. Was it meaningful? No.”

CBS said in a statement: “Today’s rulings by Judge Gammerman were on technical and procedural issues, not on the merits of Mr. Rather’s allegations. Most of Mr. Rather’s claims already have been rejected by the court and that has not changed. We are similarly confident that Mr. Rather’s re-pleaded fraud claim will be dismissed once the court reaches the actual merits. We also await the appellate division’s decisions on pending motions which, we believe will further curtail his claims.”

The judge in the case, Ira Gammerman, of the New York State Supreme Court, ruled in Mr. Rather’s favor on three motions, all of which could end up aiding his pursuit of background information about the panel of experts that CBS selected to look into “60 Minutes” report.

Most significant may be documents that include e-mail messages between the panel members and a law firm it hired to do investigative work on the case. The firm, K&L Gates, had opposed turning the documents over to Mr. Rather’s lawyers on the grounds of lawyer-client privilege.

But Judge Gammerman ruled that the work done by the firm was not covered by privilege and ordered the documents be turned over to Mr. Rather’s side within 10 days.