THE LARGEST COLLECTION OF LEGAL JOBS ON EARTH
LawCrossing Legal Daily News Feature
Bankruptcy Lawyers Face Off Justice Department over Fees Scrutiny On Monday, in a rare show of resistance over a rarer meeting over scrutiny of fees, bankruptcy lawyers told officials of the Justice Department that they do not want to keep a budget, do not want to justify expenses under $500 and do not want to disclose details of their billing practices. Go figure. The bankruptcy lawyers were infuriated with the DOJ thinking of scrutinizing their fees which usually reach hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money. 06/06/12
Widespread criticism has led the Justice Department to mull bringing in some financial discipline in the
During the rare public meeting held on the 7th floor
U.S. Trustee Program that overlooks bankruptcy
of Washington’s Justice Department the issues raised
proceedings.
were whether bankruptcy fees are inflated, unjustified or wasteful. People wanted to know whether it was
Specifically, the U.S. Trustee Program wants to know
essential for bankruptcy lawyers hired by the DOJ to
why the fees of bankruptcy lawyers are usually
ride limousines to work and put such expenses, as well
much higher than top lawyers in other special areas
as expenses for clothing on their expense accounts.
of practice. One possible reason forwarded is that
Questions were also raised as to what certain lawyers
bankruptcy lawyers know that they are unlikely to be
did exactly to bill at rates of and above $1000 an hour.
challenged in court over fees.
The meeting followed after taxpayer resentment over
D.J. “Jan” Baker of Latham & Watkins expressed in
certain recent examples, like the two-and-a-half-
terse comments that the proposal to find out whether
year restructuring of the Lehman Brothers where Weil
bankruptcy lawyers’ fees were wasteful was in itself
Gotshal & Manges managed to table a bill of $383
illegal and wasteful.
million. In the bankruptcy of MF Global Holdings Inc, the estate has already paid $17 million to lawyers in just four months.
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