WSJcomBankruptcyBeat

As the Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP trial plods into its sixth week, e-mails continue to play a key role.

Chicago class-action lawyer Clinton Krislov is better known for defending Illinois workers’s pension plans than for standing up for consum

On Monday in Manhattan, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Shelley Chapman will be asked to approve a $1.28 billion settlement between Lehman Brothers Inc. and Barclays PLC, which bought Lehman’s brokerage business days after the investment bank’s 2008 collapse.

Michael M. Fay has joined the New York office of Berg & Androphy as a partner. He has experience in bankruptcy, product liability, real estate and corporate governance and has represented such clients as investment firms and hedge funds. Mr. Fay most recently worked with law firm Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman.

Bankruptcy reform in Italy will make it much easier for banks – or distressed debt buyers – to seize and sell properties or other collateral. That should speed up sales of bad loans and so – slowly – lift banks’ lending capacity.

However, it could also be worth billions of euros to banks from day one for a simple financial reason: present value discounting. The prospect of getting money back sooner increases the value of a bad debt today.