Houston ? Down the hall from the fraud and conspiracy trial of Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay and former Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling, a federal judge gave initial approval Wednesday for three more banks to pay $5.8 billion to settle civil claims that they helped the company manipulate earnings.

U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon is expected to give final approval to the deals with the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. later, said William Lerach, who represents the University of California, the lead plaintiff in the conglomerate of shareholder lawsuits in Enron’s hometown of Houston.

The litigation’s settlement tally has so far reached $7.2 billion against Wall Street firms accused of helping the energy trader hide losses in a massive accounting fraud before it filed for bankruptcy protection in December 2001.

As Harmon addressed the settlements, her colleague U.S. District Judge Sim Lake presided over the fourth week in the criminal trial of Lay and Skilling down the hall of Houston’s federal courthouse.

Lay and Skilling also are named as defendants in the shareholder lawsuit, which is slated to go to trial in November. Lerach and other plaintiffs’ lawyers visited the criminal trial after the settlement hearing wrapped up.

The three banks last year announced settlements with the largest amounts yet: CIBC, $2.4 billion; JP Morgan, $2.2 billion; and Citigroup, $2 billion.