A Selection of Legal Fees Articles From the Past Week…
New Orleans law firm accused of charging excessive fees in malpractice suit (Louisiana Record) – A New Orleans based law firm is allegedly being hit with a complaint for excessive legal fees. The attorneys named are accused of billing for services not provided, increasing their rate without an agreement, and unauthorized billings.
Lawyer fees case before Miss. Supreme Court (AP) – Distribution of attorneys is at the heart of a Mississippi lawsuit that’s made its way before the state’s highest Court. Private attorneys and the state dispute how attorneys fees earned in lawsuits should be given out, either to the private firms or the state first and from their distributed to the private firms. This dispute stems from a lawsuit against Microsoft, whom is not party to this case.
61% of fees examined in GM Bankruptcy found objectionable (Sterling Analytics) – The review determined $343,865.98, or 61%, of the charges to be “improperly billed”. The most significant objectionable charges related to block billing, multiple attorneys at meetings, overhead charges, vague entries, false billing, and attorneys overqualified for the task.
More fees going to MGA (Bloomberg News) – MGA, maker of the Bratz line of dolls, was given another award by a Federal Court in California. The additional 2.5 million dollar fee award goes along with the fees in a related case where MGA defended itself against a copyright lawsuit brought by Mattel. Fees and Punitive damages in the two cases now stand at $225 million dollars. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-04/mattel-must-pay-mga-225-million-in-punitive-damages-fees-in-bratz-case.html
Langley goes over budget once again on attorneys fees (South Whidbey Record) – The Washington town failed to budget enough for the second straight year for attorneys fees. The towns general fund will be forced to use to pay excessive bills, and there is a stir among political candidates to get the bills released so the public can see what they are paying for.
