Attorney Fees
Judge Orders Ungaretti & Harris to Give Up Bankruptcy Fee
Posted Oct 24, 2008, 08:31 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A federal judge in Chicago has ordered Ungaretti & Harris to disgorge more than $376,000 in bankruptcy fees because it failed to get periodic approval for the interim payments.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly said Ungaretti should have filed interim fee applications with the bankruptcy court every 120 days, but the firm did not seek payment for fees and expenses until more than two years had passed, the National Law Journal reports.
Kennelly said fees the firm earned representing Resource Technology Corp. should be distributed to claimants who took a higher priority when the case converted from a Chapter 11 to a Chapter 7 filing.
Ungaretti had argued its failure to seek approval for interim fees was a technical oversight.