BigLaw bankruptcy lawyer billed Detroit $34K for travel to and from his vacation home
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A Jones Day bankruptcy partner charged Detroit nearly $34,000 for travel to and from his Florida vacation home and almost $5,000 for private cars, according to a newspaper’s review of the legal tab.
The partner is David Heiman, who billed at a rate of $975 an hour at the beginning of the case and $1,075 an hour by the end, the Detroit News reports.
Heiman flew to and from his Florida home about 11 times, the story says. One of the meetings was on Dec. 23 and was chosen by the bankruptcy mediator in an effort to encourage settlement.
The newspaper notes that the cost of the Florida travel is “more than the average annual pension of retired Detroit police officers and firefighters ($30,607) and almost twice as much as a non-uniform retiree’s pension.”
The chauffeured private cars were used to take Heiman between Detroit and his home in Cleveland, often when flights were canceled or meetings ended late. The Detroit News adds that he is not the only lawyer who used private cars.
Jones Day lawyers also charged for taxis in Detroit, spending more than $9,000 some months, according to the story.
Jones Day spokesman Dave Petrou wouldn’t discuss the expense requests with the Detroit News, saying the fees are subject to confidential mediation. But others defended the costs.
At a business roundtable breakfast on Tuesday, Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr told reporters the bills weren’t excessive. “Given the magnitude of what I’m dealing with, if I didn’t have Jones Day, I might have had to hire six to eight additional firms,” said Orr, a former Jones Day lawyer.
Wayne State University law professor Laura Bartell defended the Florida travel costs, saying Heiman was obligated to travel if he was deemed necessary for a meeting. “If this were not a bankruptcy case and this lawyer was at his vacation home and he had to go to some meeting, he would charge for that plane trip,” Bartell said.
Bartell also said expenses for a private car aren’t unusual. “Generally, if one is taking the service, it frees up one’s time to work while they are being driven,” she told the Detroit News.
