Deutsche Bank's settlement offer in the Postbank suit is being criticized by a lawyer.

• On Friday, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs in a long-standing case against Deutsche Bank criticized a proposed settlement from the German lender as a "late low ball" and stated that it was "doomed."
• Postbank acquisition by Deutsche Bank was undervalued, according to claims made by some parties.
• Last month, Germany's largest bank reported a net loss attributable to shareholders for the first time in four years, mainly because of a 1.3 billion euro provision it made for Postbank cases.

On Friday, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs in a long-standing case against a German lender slammed a proposed settlement as a "late low ball" offer.

The main issue with Deutsche Bank's acquisition of Postbank in the late 2000s was that it paid too little for the acquisition.

Since 2010, legal action has been ongoing regarding the multi-stage deal, with hundreds of claimants and various suits being processed by both institutional and private investors.

On Thursday afternoon, Deutsche Bank proposed a settlement of 36.50 euros ($40.12) per Postbank share to claimants, according to Jan Bayer, senior partner at law firm Bayer Krauss Hueber. Claimants have until Monday to respond.

The news was first reported by Reuters on Friday.

On Wednesday, a hearing on the Postbank case will occur at the Higher Regional Court in Cologne.

Despite the bank's statements to the contrary and Bayer's warning months ago, this tactic (a late low ball roll-over offer) was planned for months and carries the risk of not working, Bayer told CNBC by email.

Unless conditions change, the settlement deal is unlikely to go through, as one of the claimants has already rejected it, and the offer is subject to acceptance by all claimants.

Bayer stated that the bank's attempt to avoid a court decision on Wednesday is futile, and any settlement appears unlikely. Additionally, the timing of an "unannounced offer" during the holiday season makes it uncertain that the law firm can reach all claimants before the deadline.

Bayer Krauss Hueber is representing approximately 50 institutional claimants in various proceedings related to the case, with claims totaling approximately 1 billion euros, according to Bayer.

A Deutsche Bank representative stated via email to CNBC on Friday that they are in negotiations with different groups of plaintiffs regarding the Postbank takeover. However, they cannot provide any further information on the progress of these discussions.

The recent performance of Germany's largest lender, Deutsche Bank, has been affected by the ongoing Postbank litigation. In its second-quarter results published last month, Deutsche Bank reported a net loss attributable to shareholders for the first time in four years, mainly due to a 1.3 billion euro provision it made for Postbank cases. Despite the decline in Deutsche Bank shares following the news, they have risen nearly 12% in the year to date as of Friday, according to LSEG data.

Deutsche Bank stated in a previous lengthy statement on the case released in April that the assertion of plaintiffs that the bank was obligated to make a takeover offer at a higher price had been "successfully disputed" and that the lender believed this claim was "invalid."

In 2022, Germany's Federal Court of Justice overturned the ruling of the Higher Regional Court of Cologne from 2020 and sent the case back for a new decision.