Hay, who was found to have committed the most serious violations in Woodlock’s summary judgement in June, would nonetheless face the same potential penalties as Shleifer, the judge said Thursday.

“They’re essentially similar in terms of their culpability in this case,” Woodlock said.

But Hay’s case appeared destined for settlement, and Woodlock did not address it at last week’s hearing.

Before appearing before the judge, Lawrence S. Spiegel, Hay’s attorney, chatted amicably with Bloom and other lawyers from the U.S. attorney’s office. They discussed last month’s Republican National Convention in New York, where Spiegel is based, but did not broach the topic of settlement.

A filing with the court on Sept. 2 said the two parties needed one to two months to resolve the details of their agreement.

Lawyers for both sides declined to comment before the hearing on Thursday, and a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office did not return phone calls and e-mails seeking comment.

Speaking before the judge in a courtroom that overlooked Boston Harbor, Bloom said the government needed approval, perhaps from as far up as the U.S. attorney general, to pursue settlement negotiations with Shleifer.

“The settlement agreement in this case has a lot to do with Professor Shleifer’s ability to pay, or lack thereof,” Bloom said.

In advance of December’s trial on the issue of Shleifer’s employment status and next year’s three-week trial on the extent of the defendants’ “conspiracy,” Woodlock said he wanted to limit the scope of the witness list “so that people aren’t off subpoenaing the last eight secretaries of state.”

Referring to the larger trial during which Harvard’s liability would be assessed, Woodlock said, “I suspect it may consist of a series of testimonials by experts.”

But Woodlock, a Reagan appointee whose dry wit is constantly evident on the bench, said he was not interested in conducting “an extended seminar on Russia-American relations over the past century.”

Woodlock hinted at Thursday’s hearing that the minimum damages assessed to Shleifer and Hay would be the salaries that “they themselves received” while advising the Russia program.

Reached by telephone Friday in his London office, Hay declined to comment on the case.

—Staff writer Zachary M. Seward can be reached at seward@fas.harvard.edu.