This partner has billed an average of about 12 hours per weekday since May 2023
Sullivan & Cromwell has sought about $200 million as debtor’s counsel in the bankruptcy of cryptocurrency exchange FTX based on more than 168,000 hours clocked by lawyers and staffers. (Image from Shutterstock)
Sullivan & Cromwell has sought about $200 million as debtor’s counsel in the bankruptcy of cryptocurrency exchange FTX based on more than 168,000 hours clocked by lawyers and staffers.
One lawyer’s workload stands out, Reuters reports. Sullivan & Cromwell partner Brian D. Glueckstein has billed an average of almost 11 hours per weekday for 18 months in the FTX bankruptcy.
Glueckstein has also billed at least 732 hours for work on the bankruptcy of fire-protection company Kidde-Fenwal Inc. since May 2023, Reuters says. His work in both bankruptcies amounts to about 12 hours per day, five days per week for 11 months, the wire service reports.
Glueckstein currently bills at $2,375 per hour.
A bankruptcy judge has already approved all but $26.8 million of the estimated $200 million in fees requested by Sullivan & Cromwell. The remaining request is pending.
A Sullivan & Cromwell spokesperson told Reuters that no one has objected to the fee requests. FTX plans to repay its customers in full after recovering more than $16 billion since the bankruptcy filing. Glueckstein did not return Reuters’ request for comment, and he didn’t immediately respond to an ABA Journal request.
FTX founder Samuel Bankman-Fried was convicted in November 2023 of fraud and conspiracy after the collapse of FTX. He was accused of touting FTX Trading as a safe platform for crypto asset trading while diverting investor money to his privately held hedge fund.
Reuters spoke with experts who said huge workloads aren’t unusual in high-stakes bankruptcies and aren’t unusual for some partners.
“It brings to mind the adage that making partner is a pie-eating contest, and the prize for winning is more pie,” Adam Levitin, a professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, told Reuters in an email.
