Judge OKs $3.1M Attorney Fee in Holocaust Case
A federal judge has approved fees of $3.1 million for a lawyer who represented Holocaust victims who received a $1.25 billion settlement with Swiss banks.
Lawyer Burt Neuborne, who had originally requested $4.1 million, will receive the fees for work done after the settlement, the New York Law Journal reports. He had worked pro bono in reaching the agreement with the banks.
Neuborne had based his original fee request on an hourly rate of $700 an hour, discounted by 25 percent because of the unique nature of the litigation, the legal newspaper says. But a magistrate judge had found that $450 an hour was reasonable.
U.S. District Judge Frederic Block adopted the magistrate’s recommendation yesterday. He said Neuborne was entitled to fees for the post-settlement work.
A lawyer representing the class had objected to Neuborne’s initial fee request, saying he had agreed to do all the work for free. He later withdrew his objections after the magistrate’s report.
