A political scandal revolving around the modernization of New York City’s payroll systems culminated Wednesday with a government contractor admitting to fraud and agreeing to a $500 million settlement — the largest single recovery ever in a state or municipal contract fraud case, according to federal prosecutors.

Lehman emerged from bankruptcy Tuesday, more than three years after the investment banking giant’s 2008 collapse forced Weil, Gotshal & Manges to help one of its biggest clients quickly put together the largest Chapter 11 case in U.S. history.

Mattel has asked the 9th Circuit to reverse the $310 million judgment against it in a long-running legal battle over the Bratz dolls, maintaining that its failed infringement allegations didn’t justify “the largest copyright fee award in history.”

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett is acting for London-based private equity giant BC Partners on one of the largest fundraising efforts in Europe since the global financial crisis began in 2008. BC has closed its BC European Capital IX fund after surpassing its target of raising $8.6 billion for leveraged buyouts.

Two Japanese automotive parts suppliers have agreed to pay a combined $548 million in criminal fines for their roles in price-fixing and bid-rigging conspiracies in the sale of products to automobile manufacturers in the United States, in what the Justice Department describes as the largest criminal probe its antitrust division has ever pursued.