Business Development

CIGNA Judge: High Fees Justified

A federal judge has approved $21.3 million in fees for plaintiffs’ attorneys who obtained a $93 million settlement in a suit against CIGNA Corp. for securities fraud. U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson of Philadelphia said the attorneys were entitled to high fees because “the amount of the settlement in this…

Jul 18, 2007 2:17 PM CDT

Pop Star Owes Legal Fees

Lawyers for pop star Michael Jackson have told him to “Beat It” on more than one occasion. The latest dispute ended last week when a Los Angeles judge ordered Jackson to pay nearly $217,000 in legal fees to a law firm that handled side issues during his child molestation trial.…

Jul 17, 2007 8:42 PM CDT

Accused Doc Sues La. AG

A physician who stuck it out at a New Orleans hospital in disastrous conditions following Hurricane Katrina has filed a lawsuit against the state attorney general who accused her of killing four patients. The lawsuit by Dr. Anna Pou claims some patients could not be saved in the chaotic situation…

Jul 17, 2007 5:16 PM CDT

McGuireWoods Sued Over Fees

McGuireWoods is defending a malpractice lawsuit by a New York company that claims it paid too much in legal fees in a civil racketeering case that ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Ideal Steel Supply Corp. says the firm hiked its rates without permission and drove up fees by failing…

Jul 16, 2007 12:43 PM CDT

Flummoxed by a Fee Footnote

A new footnote provides quite a kicker in a revised opinion on how to determine attorney fees in pro bono cases. Lawyers are wondering: Does it mean that pro bono lawyers are generally entitled to the usual attorney fees—or something less—when they win a public-interest case? The 2nd U.S. Circuit…

Jul 13, 2007 2:24 PM CDT

Defense Tab: At least $10 M

An executive charged with a high-profile white-collar crime can expect to spend at least $10 million on his defense. And that’s on the low end. That’s the conclusion in several legal briefs filed in the trial of 12 ex-KPMG employees charged with creating illegal tax shelters, the New York Law…

Jul 13, 2007 12:34 PM CDT

Politics Ensnares Ex-Political Aide

Former White House political director Sara Taylor has learned some lessons since she received a Senate subpoena on her return home from a European vacation. Even though she resigned, normalcy is still out of reach. E-mail is never really private. The professional liability insurance she purchased doesn’t cover her legal…

Jul 12, 2007 3:22 PM CDT

More Firms Try Alternative Fees

The billable hour is not likely to die anytime soon, although more law firms are exploring alternative billing arrangements. In the most common arrangements, firms bill fixed fees for large amounts of work, or bill at a reduced rate in exchange for a bonus in a winning case. That can…

Jul 11, 2007 1:05 PM CDT

Corp Clients Trim US/Foreign Firm Rosters to Save $$

Major medical insurers have been leveraging their purchasing power for decades, negotiating fee discounts from medical providers by promising a large volume of business from insured individuals. Now in-house counsel at major corporations are routinely applying similar tactics to legal providers, sending work to a smaller number of law firms…

Jul 6, 2007 6:06 PM CDT

Dry Cleaners Seeks Fees

Owners of a dry cleaners that successfully defended a $54 million lost-pants lawsuit claim the plaintiff was out to destroy their lives and should pay their legal fees. The cleaners seeks nearly $83,000 in fees in a motion filed yesterday. It alleges that plaintiff Roy Pearson submitted “outrageous demands for…

Jul 6, 2007 6:04 PM CDT

Should States Hire Private Trial Lawyers?

A growing controversy about whether it is appropriate for states to retain high-priced contingency lawyers to pursue mass tort litigation on citizens’ behalf is being argued in courts—and newspapers—throughout the country. Siding with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Wall Street Journal’s (sub. req.) editorial board says today that it’s…

Jul 5, 2007 10:50 PM CDT

Davis Wright to Get $1 M ‘Pro Bono’ Fee

Davis Wright Tremaine won a racial discrimination case against Seattle’s public school district fair and square. But the $1 million fee the well-known firm is getting for its work in the “pro bono” case strikes some as an unfairly big bite into the city’s tax revenue. In fact, the firm…

Jul 5, 2007 9:18 PM CDT

KPMG Judge Wavers on Dismissal

The federal judge overseeing the criminal prosecution of former KPMG partners appeared to waver on whether he would dismiss charges because of government conduct. Judge Lewis Kaplan said on Monday that “the ground has shifted” on the question of dismissal and “I don’t know where I am” on the issue,…

Jul 3, 2007 7:12 PM CDT

Philadelphia Fee-dom

The 3rd Circuit tackles settlements that leave clients wanting, insurers burning

Jul 1, 2007 8:06 PM CDT

KPMG Prosecutors Concede Key Point

Government lawyers have acknowledged that dismissal of charges is the appropriate remedy for 12 former KPMG employees—if prosecutors indeed violated the Constitution by pressuring their employer to cut off legal fees. In legal papers filed Friday, the government says it continues to maintain that a judge’s finding of a constitutional…

Jun 26, 2007 1:01 PM CDT