Liquidators for a pair of defunct Bear Stearns investment funds sued Reed Smith on Tuesday alleging malpractice, seeking $500 million in damages and saying the law firm muffed a financial crisis era lawsuit against the major credit rating agencies.

The two Cayman Islands-based funds—which raised and fed capital to so-called master funds at Bear Stearns that, in turn, invested heavily in shoddy residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS) and collateralized debt obligations—tapped lawyers at Reid Collins & Tsai to file suit against Reed Smith in Manhattan state court.