Baker Hostetler Is 'Transformed' by Madoff Work, Will Leverage Proprietary Computer System
Baker Hostetler’s New York office had 68 lawyers before partner Irving Picard was appointed trustee in the bankruptcy of Bernard Madoff’s investment firm.
Since then the case has “transformed” Baker Hostetler, Crain’s New York Business (sub. req.) reports. The New York office now has 165 lawyers, it has earned $179 million in Madoff-related fees and it has submitted a bill for another $44 million. The firm is contracting to rent another 44,000 square feet beginning next year in its building at 45 Rockefeller Center, enough space to hold 190 lawyers.
The firm has built its own state-of-the-art computer system to manage all the Madoff data. According to the story, “The case has generated enough paper to extend for more than 5,000 miles if all of the sheets were lined up; if all the electronic data were printed out, it would fill in excess of 5 million four-drawer filing cabinets.”
Baker plans to leverage its new expertise. The story quotes David Sheehan, chief counsel to Picard and a Baker Hostetler partner. “The case has given us strength in other practice areas,” he says. “When the case winds down, we will use the proprietary platform we built for Madoff clients to support and service other clients.”
