Some of Lehman’s former clients have stopped fighting. Colorado’s Housing and Finance Authority settled a dispute over swaps with Lehman as of March 2012 for an undisclosed sum, according to its most recent financial report.

Others, such as Simmons College in Boston and Havenwood- Heritage Heights, which runs a retirement community in Concord, New Hampshire, are balking at Lehman’s demands.

Simmons, a 5,000-student liberal arts institution, paid Lehman $5.5 million to exit three swaps in January 2009. It held back $800,000 for out-of-pocket expenses, the college reported in its June 30, 2012, financial statement.

Lehman disagreed with the amount, and more than three years later notified the college that it wanted to negotiate a settlement through mediation.

Havenwood-Heritage Heights paid a termination fee of about $420,000 in 2009. The nonprofit disclosed that Lehman wanted another $1.9 million as of Dec. 31 -- an amount equal to what the retirement community spent on food and utilities that year, according to its financial statement.

‘Strong’ Basis

Havenwood has 409 independent-living units, 55 assisted- living units and 95 skilled-nursing-facility beds.

Kalimah Redd Knight, a spokeswoman for Simmons College, declined to comment on the negotiations. Michael Palmeri, president of Havenwood, didn’t respond to telephone calls requesting comment.

“Counsel for the community continues to be of the view that there is strong legal basis for the community’s position that it properly terminated its Lehman Swap on Sept. 16, 2009,” Havenwood said in notes accompanying its financial statement.

Many of the disputes are based on differences of opinion on the value of the contract when it was terminated, Weeber said. Nonprofits, municipalities and companies argue that they would get less favorable terms from new counterparties than they did from Lehman and therefore should owe Lehman less, he said.