A recent Los Angeles Times story, “JP Morgan Sets Aside an Additional $684 Million for Lawsuits,” reports that JP Morgan Chase & Co., bracing for higher legal costs, set aside an additional $684 million in the third quarter for litigation expenses.  Jamie Dimon, the bank’s chairman and chief executive declined to specify what led the bank to up its litigation reserves.  “Obviously we’re in a litigious society,” Dimon said in a conference call with reporters Friday morning.  “We’ve got a lot of mortgage suits coming, and others.”  “We expect some litigation expenses going forward but hopefully it’ll come down over time,” he added.

The disclosure of the pre-tax expense, reported as the bank posted a 34% jump in third-quarter profits Friday, comes a week after New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman hit JP Morgan with a lawsuit.  The suit, brought as the first major action by a federal task force aimed at mortgage fraud and its role in the financial crisis relates to mortgage bonds sold by Bear Sterns, the investment bank JP Morgan purchased when it ran into trouble during the financial crisis.