Business Development

Special master who reviewed billing in $300M case recommends significant refund, judge says

A federal judge has directed pension fund officials to consider whether they want to drop their law firm, Labaton Sucharow, after a contentious hearing Wednesday in which he said the firm’s conduct has been called into question in the class action against State Street Bank.

Jun 4, 2018 7:05 AM CDT

Wisconsin law requires all litigation funding arrangements to be disclosed

Legislation signed by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker last week requires all third-party litigation funding deals to be disclosed—even if a discovery request has not been made for that information.

Apr 10, 2018 10:45 AM CDT

Billing client in minimum 15-minute increments wasn’t abusive, Wyoming Supreme Court says

A law firm that routinely billed a longtime client in 15-minute increments isn’t required to reduce its legal tab, the Wyoming Supreme Court has ruled.

Mar 29, 2018 8:00 AM CDT

Defunct Heller firm not entitled to claw back fees from exiting partners, California high court says

The dissolved Heller Ehrman law firm isn’t entitled to claw back hourly fees charged in pending cases after departing partners jumped to new law firms, according to the California Supreme Court. The high court ruled on Monday at the request of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.…

Mar 5, 2018 3:45 PM CST

Unhappy with 53 law firms participating in case, judge appoints special master to review legal bills

A federal judge in California last week criticized two lawyers for bringing an additional 49 law firms into a data-breach case, raising to 53 the total number of firms representing the plaintiffs. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh said she planned to hire a special master to go through the billing…

Feb 7, 2018 8:00 AM CST

ABA urges Federal Circuit not to include attorney fees in patent case ‘expenses’

The American Bar Association is urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit not to include the government’s attorney fees when awarding “all expenses of the proceedings” to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The ABA filed an amicus brief in NantKwest v. Joseph Matal, urging the full Federal Circuit to overturn a split decision of a three-judge panel.

Jan 24, 2018 7:30 AM CST

Legal secretary is awarded $277K in attorney fees in her overtime suit against her former law firm

A Los Angeles judge on Monday awarded $277,000 in attorney fees to a former legal secretary who prevailed on her claim that the law firm she once worked for failed to pay overtime. Noemi Bernal had been awarded more than $91,000 on the wage claim against J.J. Little & Associates,…

Nov 28, 2017 1:06 PM CST

Law firm billed criminal defendants for prosecution fees; building-code violation brings $31K bill

Building-code violators in two California municipalities are being billed for their own criminal prosecutions after the cities hired a law firm and authorized it to bill defendants for its prosecution services. The towns of Coachella and Indio hired the law firm Silver & Wright, which bills not only for its…

Nov 20, 2017 12:12 PM CST

Alternative fee arrangements have plateaued, survey author says

Two surveys of in-house counsel have drawn similar conclusions: There is some inertia in their use of alternative fees to control law firm costs.

Oct 30, 2017 7:25 AM CDT

Former partner says firm’s suit alleging stolen client has ‘recklessly false’ allegations

A former Grant & Eisenhofer partner is seeking to toss a lawsuit that claims he stole a whistleblower client when he left the firm. Reuben Guttman filed a motion last week to dismiss or grant summary judgment in the suit, the Am Law Daily (sub. req.) reports. The Grant &…

Oct 20, 2017 10:49 AM CDT

Top Texas court considers whether to toss legal fee estimated at $48K an hour

A federal appellate nominee and a former Texas Supreme Court justice are representing opposing sides in a battle over an oral agreement to pay legal fees in a case involving family trusts of the late oilman H.L. Hunt. At issue is a $7.5 million contingency fee that amounts to an…

Oct 17, 2017 10:42 AM CDT

Law firm’s automatic deletion of spam emails is blamed for failure to file timely appeal

A Florida law firm’s failure to appeal an order assessing attorney fees doesn’t constitute excusable neglect when its email system apparently perceived the order to be spam and erased it, a Florida appeals court has ruled.

Sep 28, 2017 7:00 AM CDT

RNC has paid $427K in legal fees for Trump and Trump Jr.

The Republican National Committee has paid more than $427,000 to lawyers for President Donald Trump and Donald Trump Jr. Spokeswoman Cassie Smedile said the fees are being paid from a pre-existing legal account “and do not reduce by a dime the resources we can put towards our political work,” the…

Sep 20, 2017 11:16 AM CDT

Trump reportedly is paying legal bills in special counsel probe with campaign and RNC funds

President Donald Trump is reportedly paying his legal bills in the special counsel probe of Russian influence with donations to his re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee.

Sep 19, 2017 4:27 PM CDT

Lawyers can accept payment in bitcoin, Nebraska ethics opinion says

Lawyers may accept payment in digital currencies such as bitcoin but must immediately convert the money into U.S. dollars, according to a Nebraska ethics advisory opinion. The opinion, issued Sept. 11, is the first by a state ethics body to address the ethics of bitcoin payments, the Norfolk Daily News…

Sep 18, 2017 3:58 PM CDT