Business Development

Houston Law Firm May Have to Repay $1M in Legal Fees OK’d By Judge

A prominent Texas law firm reportedly may have to repay up to $1 million in legal fees in a trust litigation matter, even though they were authorized by a state probate judge. Judge Mike Wood was wrong to award $500,000 in fees to Crain Caton & James, a Texas appeals…

Jun 6, 2008 5:30 PM CDT

Lawyer Accused of Billing County for More than 24 Hours of Work in a Day

An Illinois lawyer who represented indigent juveniles for Cook County, which includes Chicago, has been accused of billing for more than 20 hours of daily work on nearly 90 different days. On 38 occasions, lawyer Jeffery Luckett of Homewood is accused of billing for more than 24 hours in a…

Jun 6, 2008 4:16 PM CDT

Is This ‘Professional Objector’ a Safety Check or Frivolous Filer?

Ohio lawyer Edward Siegel is a transactional lawyer with an unusual source of extra income. In these cases, he doesn’t make money from bringing lawsuits and reaching settlements. Instead he earns fees by challenging the deals that other lawyers make. Siegel is a so-called professional objector who challenges attorney fees…

Jun 5, 2008 4:20 PM CDT

Magistrate Cuts 50 Hours, $400K From Fees, Cites ‘Contentiousness’

A federal magistrate has cut 50 hours and $400,000 from a request for attorney fees by the firm Outten & Golden in employment litigation that at times turned rancorous. New York Magistrate Judge James Francis IV said some work performed by the law firm was unjustified and partly agreed with…

Jun 5, 2008 1:57 PM CDT

Law Prof Testifies Fen-Phen Lawyers Told Clients of Deal Too Late

A Northern Kentucky University law professor testified yesterday that three fen-phen lawyers told their clients of a settlement after the case had been dismissed—too late for them to raise objections. Edward Brewer III, on leave from the university’s Salmon P. Chase law school, said the delay violated Kentucky ethics and…

Jun 5, 2008 11:48 AM CDT

Venture Capitalist Slams Lawyers in Blog Harangue

A lawyer and venture capitalist rails against rising lawyer salaries and the big legal bills they produce in a 1,120-word blog harangue. Jason Mendelson, a lawyer and venture capitalist with the Foundry Group and Mobius Venture Capital, compares his starting lawyer salary of $71,000 in 1998 with today’s paychecks and…

Jun 4, 2008 12:02 PM CDT

Attorneys to Ante Up $235K in N.Y. Public Benefits Probe

More settlements by New York lawyers have been announced in an ongoing public benefits probe by the state attorney general. Gilbert Henoch, 75, a Long Island attorney, agreed to pay $60,000, and a Queens law firm, Aiello & Cannick, and two lawyers there, Devereaux Cannick and Jennifer Fremgen, agreed to…

Jun 3, 2008 9:37 PM CDT

Is It Really $1,000/Hour? Or Just $900?

Remember all the hoopla about top-billing law firm partners who charge $1,000 per billable hour? Well, maybe it’s really closer to $900 for many clients. A recent study found that most firms discount their billable rates, by an average 9.9 percent, notes Legal Blog Watch. More large firms than small…

Jun 2, 2008 9:01 PM CDT

Paralegal Testifies Fen-Phen Lawyer Told Her to Destroy Documents

A legal assistant testified Friday that a lawyer accused of misappropriating fen-phen settlement money told her to destroy legal documents showing how clients were paid. Rebecca Phipps said she ignored the directive by lawyer William Gallion and instead locked the records in a cabinet and hid the key, the Louisville…

Jun 2, 2008 12:52 PM CDT

Embattled Judge Says She Can’t Pay Legal Fees

Embattled Las Vegas Judge Elizabeth Halverson has requested a continuance so she can prepare to defend herself on an ethics complaint that she fell asleep on the bench and treated staff like servants. Halverson told the Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission that she owes more than $90,000 in legal fees and…

May 29, 2008 5:45 PM CDT

Trial Judge’s Treatment of ‘Invisible’ Man Was Wrong, Appeals Court Says

When David Battah showed up without a lawyer at the Superior Court of Justice in Canada last year, “it was as if he suddenly became invisible,” a newspaper recounts. Battah had lined up an attorney to help him protest a $463,000 payment being sought from an aunt’s estate, but his…

May 29, 2008 3:18 PM CDT

$25K Sanction Recommended for Reconstructed Billing Records

A special master has recommended a $25,000 sanction against a San Francisco plaintiffs lawyer for mishandling a fee request in litigation against FedEx. Special Master Edward Swanson said lawyer Waukeen McCoy created billing records after the fact, misrepresented the nature of the documents, and did not produce requested documents, the…

May 29, 2008 2:01 PM CDT

Oops. Can Lawyers Prove Damages in Auction-Rate Securities Cases?

Plaintiffs lawyers have been pursuing a few dozen potential class actions since March over auction-rate securities allegedly sold to investors based on promises that they could easily resell them. In fact, that proved not to be true of many of the securities, after the credit crisis led other investors to…

May 28, 2008 4:08 PM CDT

Feds Seek 33 Months for Melvyn Weiss, Former Milberg Partner Asks for 18

A federal probation office report is recommending that Melvyn Weiss be sentenced to a 33-month prison term on Monday for his admitted role in a secret payments scheme to class action clients. It allegedly also involved the high-profile plaintiffs securities law firm at which he was formerly a name partner.…

May 27, 2008 11:29 PM CDT

Patent Holding Company on the Defensive in Attorney Fee Dispute

A patent holding company that unsuccessfully sued Palm and other defendants is now on the defensive, as Palm pursues attorney fees awarded by a judge who questioned the holding company’s pretrial investigation and discovery conduct. In an effort to recover the awarded fees, Palm has filed a motion seeking to…

May 21, 2008 10:41 AM CDT