Attorney Fees
Bankruptcy Judge Nixes Sidley’s Top $1,100 Hourly Rate, OKs $925
Posted Feb 20, 2009, 03:03 pm CST
By Martha Neil
In a hearing today, a federal bankruptcy court judge in Wilmington, Del., said he won't OK a top $1,100 hourly fee requested by Sidley Austin in a newspaper company's case.
But U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Kevin Carey approved a top hourly fee of $925 in the Tribune Co. bankruptcy, Bloomberg reports. The billable rates charged by the Chicago-based firm in the case start at $575 for some attorneys, according to a Dec. 26 filing requesting court approval of legal fees.
The $1,100 rate requested is higher than any in a database kept by Lynn LoPucki, who teaches bankruptcy law at the University of California at Los Angeles.
However, it was just a bit less than the $1,110 requested last month by Chicago-based Kirkland & Ellis in a corporate bankruptcy case in which it is representing Tronox Inc. There's no word yet on whether that fee request was approved.
Additional coverage:
ABAJournal.com: "Kirkland & Ellis Seeks Fee of $18.50 a Minute for Bankruptcy Work"
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