Lawyer Pay

Lawyer David Boies bills $1,950 per hour, court filing says

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David Boies

David Boies is the chairman and a managing partner at Boies Schiller Flexner. Photo by Kathy Anderson/ABA Journal.

A court filing seeking legal fees in privacy litigation against Google indicates that one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers—David Boies—is making $1,950 per hour.

The hourly rate is revealed in a June 3 motion seeking more than $1 million for legal fees and costs incurred by plaintiffs in pursuing a sanctions motion against Google, Reuters reports.

A judge had allowed the plaintiffs to seek fees and costs after concluding that Google committed discovery misconduct, partly by concealing key data and employees from the plaintiffs.

Boies, 81, is the chairman and a managing partner at Boies Schiller Flexner. His hourly rate is still below that of Neal K. Katyal, a partner at Hogan Lovells and a former U.S. acting solicitor general, who bills $2,465 per hour, according to a filing in a bankruptcy case.

Some lawyers at Covington & Burling also make more money, according to a Department of Justice court filing. It shows that senior partners there bill up to $2,500 per hour, Reuters reports in another story.

The privacy suit alleges that Google collected information from internet users when they use its incognito web browsing.

Other plaintiffs firms in the case are Susman Godfrey and Morgan & Morgan.

The case is Brown v. Google.

Updated June 9 at 8:30 a.m. to include information on Covington & Burling’s billing rates.

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