Dewey filings reveal $14m in fee claims by bankruptcy advisers
Advisers to Dewey & LeBoeuf's estate are seeking more than $14m (£8.7m) in fees and expenses for work carried out in the first five months of the defunct US law firm's bankruptcy proceedings, new filings have revealed. A dozen applicants, including law firms, financial advisers, wind-down consultants and administrative advisors have so far filed claims in New York bankruptcy courts for services rendered between 28 May and the end of October last year. The claims are set to be considered by Judge Martin Glenn on 24 January.
January 03, 2013 at 08:41 AM
3 minute read
Advisers to Dewey & LeBoeuf's estate are seeking more than $14m (£8.7m) in fees and expenses for work carried out in the first five months of the defunct US law firm's bankruptcy proceedings, new court filings have revealed.
A dozen applicants, including law firms, financial advisers, wind-down consultants and administrative advisers have so far filed claims in New York bankruptcy courts for services rendered between 28 May and the end of October last year. The claims are set to be considered by Judge Martin Glenn on 24 January.
The top biller is New York law firm Togut Segal & Segal, bankruptcy counsel for Dewey's estate, which is asking for $4.7m (£2.9m), including more than $50,000 (£31,000) in expenses.
Founding partner Albert Togut has billed 943 hours at an average of $935 (£580) an hour, totalling $881,705 (£546,000), while fellow partner Scott Ratner has clocked up more than 1,200 hours at $800 (£500) an hour, totalling $974,720 (£603,000). Paralegal Dawn Person has billed an additional $77,520 (£48,000) off the back of an hourly rate of $285 (£176).
Other substantial sums include those submitted by chief restructuring officer Joff Mitchell's firm, Zolfo Cooper, which has billed $3.6m (£2.3m), while Brown Rudnick has charged $2m (£1.2m) for its role as counsel for the official committee of unsecured creditors.
Law firm Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman, which is representing the official committee of partners, has billed $1.3m (£805,000), with financial consultants Goldin seeking $1.2m (£743,000).
The remaining claims for fees include Deloitte ($653,000) for financial advice to the official committee of unsecured creditors; Thierhoff Muller and partner ($327,000) for restructuring advice on Dewey's German operations; management consulting and financial advisory services outfit Development Specialists ($249,000); Keightley & Ashley ($159,000) for pensions advice; tax counsel Ernst & Young ($60,000); administrative advisor Epiq Bankruptcy ($69,000); and PR firm Sitrick and Company ($57,000).
Court documents also show the breakdown of fees paid to members of the firm's wind-down committee, with former Dewey partners Janis Meyer and Stephen Horvath paid $461,507 (£286,000) and $985,872 (£610,068) since the petition date.
Meyer and Horvath are paid a starting compensation fee of $19,000 (£11,800) and $20,000 (£12,400) per week respectively, while Horvath can receive up to $38,000 (£23,600) per week inclusive of extra hours billed at $950 (£587) per hour.
This October Judge Glenn approved a $71.5m (£45m) settlement between Dewey's former partners and the defunct firm's estate. At that point around 450 of 670 former Dewey partners had opted to participate in the settlement, which requires partners to pay portions of their earnings from 2011 and 2012 in exchange for a waiver from future liability over the firm's debts, with individual payments ranging from $5,000 (£3,100) to $3.37m (£2.1m).
Dewey become the world's largest law firm failure when it collapsed into bankruptcy on 28 May last year in the wake of a stream of partner exits and revelations that the firm had overstated its 2011 financial results.
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