. >> narrator: the lawyers worked at the new york firm patterson belknap, webb & tyler.they were suing bear stearns and its successor, jpmorgan chase, on behalf of companies that had insured the quality of the loans bear was selling. in january of 2011, they filed a 161-page complaint. >> and within 160 pages, that document essentially summed up what looks to be the core of the credit crisis. >> ntor: mk palmer has pored through the bear stearns lawsuit and a dozen other private suits now pending against other wall street banks for fraudulently misrepresenting the mortgages they packaged and sold. >> smith: you say this is the core of the credit crisis. >> i believe so. based on what we've seen thus far, frankly, i think there's some pretty decent evidence that the mortgage securitization industry was rotten to the core. >> smith: do you think the government should have brought criminal cases against these players? >> i would find it difficult to believe that there wasn't sufficient evidence to at least indict many of the players involved here. >> narrator: in building t