Business Development

Can Firms Justify Rate Hikes Amid Salary Freezes & Layoffs? (Poll)

Update: Last month we reported on Altman Weil’s study (PDF) showing that of the in-house law departments surveyed, 75 percent said they will face budget cuts averaging 11.5 percent in 2009. The big target for cuts? Outside counsel. The report, which includes tips for negotiating fees, is interesting when juxtaposed…

Jan 16, 2009 7:33 PM CST

Federal Judge Might Ax $2M Legal Fee in Seattle ‘Pro Bono’ Case

There’s no question that Davis Wright Tremaine won a civil rights victory for a Seattle parents group by fighting all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court the local school district’s partially race-based high school admissions policy. In 2007, the nation’s top court held that the policy was an unconstitutional…

Jan 14, 2009 8:21 PM CST

Former Calif. Prosecutor Charged in Money-Laundering Case

A former assistant Santa Clara County, Calif., prosecutor is facing six felony charges for allegedly helping a client launder money through attorney fees paid to her trust account. In a federal indictment unsealed yesterday, Jamie Harmon, 52, who now has a criminal defense practice in San Jose, Calif., was charged…

Jan 10, 2009 12:37 AM CST

Trial Begins on Lawyer’s Claim that Blank Rome Owes Him $200K in Fees

A Baltimore lawyer is waging a legal battle for $200,000 in fees from Blank Rome in a trial that began Monday. Lawyer Nathaniel Jones Jr. of Baltimore says the law firm owes him fees for legal advice he provided during the firm’s representation of an investment manager convicted of fraud…

Jan 8, 2009 1:52 PM CST

Lawyer Won $2.4M for Client, But Should Get No Attorney Fee, 2nd Circuit Says

In what the 2nd Circuit describes in a written opinion as a close case, the appeals court has upheld a lower court decision to award no attorney fee to a former New York lawyer who won a $2.4 million settlement for his client in a medical malpractice case. Because Steven…

Jan 7, 2009 9:03 PM CST

Top Cravath Partner: Kill Billable Hour

Evan Chesler isn’t the first prominent lawyer to make the suggestion. But his call, in a January magazine article, to kill the billable hour used by most corporate law firms as a basis for charging clients is bound to be influential because of his position at the helm of one…

Jan 7, 2009 12:50 AM CST

Judge Finds Dewey’s $100K-a-Day Fee Application Is Excessive

A $100,000-a-day fee application by Dewey & LeBeouf for receivership work is excessive, according to a federal judge in New York City. U.S. District Judge Denny Chin said Dewey provided “extensive and outstanding legal services,” but it had overstaffed and overworked the case, the American Lawyer reports. He cut more…

Jan 6, 2009 3:15 PM CST

Nonlawyer Earns Almost $300K a Year from Disability Suits

Thomas Mundy isn’t a lawyer. But he says he’s filed 150 lawsuits over the past 18 months, seeking to enforce a federal law that requires businesses to be wheelchair-accessible. Disabled since a 1988 motorcycle accident and otherwise unemployed, Mundy sues when he runs across violations of state disabilities law, according…

Jan 5, 2009 10:58 PM CST

Lehman by the Numbers

$1.4 billion is the projected amount of fees that lawyers, accountants and other professionals may earn from working on the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy. $53 million Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy’s estimated fee as counsel for the creditors committee. $613 billion Estimated amount of Lehman Brothers debt. Weil, Gotshal & Manges…

Jan 1, 2009 7:30 AM CST

Slashed Fees Still Add Up to $1,825 an Hour

A federal judge in Detroit reduced legal fees this week in a $303 million settlement between General Motors Corp. and investors. U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen said the 19 percent requested by lawyers was too much and wouldn’t sit well with the middle class, according to an Associated Press report.…

Dec 23, 2008 11:41 PM CST

Malpractice Suit Filed against Quinn Emanuel Over Settlement Explanation

A former client has sued Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges, claiming the law firm failed to advise him of the potential ramifications of a settlement with a former business partner. According to the complaint by ex-client Todd Kurtin, he was supposed to receive nearly $49 million in four payments…

Dec 19, 2008 4:26 PM CST

Firm Leverages Billable Hour Animosity to Lure Clients

Question: How Many Lawyers Does it Take to Screw a Client? Answer: With billable hours, only one. The Q&A above is just one of the many punches that self-proclaimed BigLaw refugees at Valorem Law Group, a Chicago business litigation boutique, are throwing against the billing practices of their former firms.…

Dec 18, 2008 5:00 PM CST

FDIC to Pay Texas Financier $10M to Settle Legal Defense Claim

Ending a legal battle that began after the 1988 collapse of a Texas savings and loan indirectly controlled by financier Charles Hurwitz, the FDIC has agreed to pay him $10 million. The award is intended to cover his defense costs in earlier litigation involving both the thrift’s failure and, a…

Dec 17, 2008 9:40 PM CST

Blank Rome Sues Rapper for Unpaid Fees

Blank Rome has sued rapper Mos Def, claiming he owes $60,000 in unpaid legal fees. The suit says the fees stem from the star’s 2006 divorce from Maria Yepes, the Am Law Daily reports. The law firm has represented several high-profile personalities in divorce proceedings. They include Donald Trump, shock…

Dec 17, 2008 5:39 PM CST

Judge Questions Dewey Fee Application Seeking About $100K a Day

A federal judge is seeking more information on a $2.1 million fee application by Dewey & LeBeouf that breaks down to about $100,000 a day in attorney fees. U.S. District Judge Denny Chin asked for more information on the application by Dewey partner Timothy Coleman, who is the receiver for…

Dec 17, 2008 2:55 PM CST