Cha Ching! Weil Gotshal Earning Big Money in Lehman Case

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Weil, Gotshal & Manges bills Lehman Brothers up to $1,000 an hour for its role as the company’s lead bankruptcy firm and, during a 17-month period that ended last month, the firm collected a total of $157.5 million in fees.

According to Bloomberg, Weil Gotshal charges $990 an hour for the use of its U.S.-based attorneys and $1,000 an hour for it top lawyers abroad. The rates were set Jan. 1 and were revealed in a regulatory filing submitted yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.

Although such rates are not unprecedented, they certainly are at the top end of the spectrum, according to Stephen French, managing partner of Legalbill, which provides companies with analysis of legal costs.

  

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“A thousand dollars an hour is high by any measure,” French told Bloomberg.

Weil Gotshal partner Harvey Miller is the main lawyer for Lehman and he declined to comment on the story.  According to a March 2009 court filing, Weil Gotshal charged a top rate last year of $950 for U.S. lawyers and $1,170 for overseas partners, Bloomberg reports.

Lehman Brothers reported assets of $639 billion when it filed for bankruptcy in September 2008. It is in the process of liquidating to pay off its creditors. According to Bloomberg, there have been no major objections into what advisers such as Weil Gotshal are being paid.