Maid service

Cleaning up a mess can be expensive, we all know that.  Sometimes, though, the expense is rather … outlandish?  Of course, the Madoff mess is on a scale you don’t often see.     

Baker & Hostetler, acting as counsel for Bernie Madoff’s bankruptcy trustee, Irving Picard (a partner at B&H), has asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court before which that matter is pending to approve $22 million in fees for five months of work on the case - B&H has already been paid $14 million or so for previous work:

Baker & Hostetler LLP requested $21.28 million of fees plus $280,682 to cover expenses for 56,688 hours of work in acting as counsel to trustee Irving Picard for the five months ended September 30, according to filings on Monday with the U.S. bankruptcy court in Manhattan.

The requested fees equal about $375 per hour, after the 10 percent discount from normal billing rates that many law firms in the case agreed to accept.

Here’s the kicker from the story:

“No single document could comprehensively set forth all of the tasks engaged in by the trustee and Baker & Hostetler since their appointment,” wrote David Sheehan, a partner at Baker & Hostetler, in the firm’s fee application.

No single document, yeah - I would think not. 

Let me do the math and save you a little time: B&H lawyers have billed the equivalent of 2,362 24 hour days in five months - or, to look at it another way, about 6.4 years worth of days if one lawyer worked 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Phew, they must be tired over there.