Biglaw
billing
drama
is
usually
a
closed-door
affair,
but
every
now
and
then,
the
curtain
gets
yanked
back.
And
when
it
does,
the
numbers
are…
not
subtle.
As
reported
by
Law.com,
that’s
exactly
what’s
happening
to
WilmerHale,
which
is
now
staring
down
some
very
public
scrutiny
over
a
$35
million
legal
bill
that
has
a
judge
in
London
raising
an
eyebrow…
and
ordering
a
full-on
assessment.
The
client
in
question
is
Alberto
Safra,
son
of
the
late
Joseph
Safra,
whose
$23
billion
fortune
has
apparently
spawned
the
kind
of
family
dispute
that
keeps
elite
litigators
very,
very
busy.
Safra
hired
WilmerHale
to
represent
him
in
that
fight,
and
over
the
course
of
two
years,
the
meter
ran
up
to
$35
million,
with
$18.9
million
still
outstanding.
Safra
has
now
gone
to
London’s
High
Court
to
challenge
the
invoices,
triggering
judicial
scrutiny
of
the
firm’s
charges.
And
according
to
the
court’s
findings,
there
are
some
choice
entries.
We’re
talking
about
a
single
day
where
WilmerHale
billed
more
than
$162,000.
We’re
talking
about
top
partners
charging
as
much
as
$2,095
per
hour
—
a
tidy
$265/hour
increase
from
what
had
been
agreed
just
15
months
earlier.
And
we’re
talking
about
Washington,
D.C.
partner
John
Trenor
logging
19.3
hours
in
a
single
day,
while
nine
timekeepers
collectively
racked
up
130.2
hours
in
one
24-hour
stretch.
(Hope
everyone
remembered
to
hydrate.)
The
real
legal
issue
isn’t
just
whether
the
bills
are
eye-popping,
but
whether
they’re
insulated
from
challenge.
WilmerHale
argued
that
its
arrangement
with
Safra
constituted
a
“contentious
business
agreement”
(CBA),
a
statutory
mechanism
under
English
law
that
can
shield
legal
fees
from
court
assessment.
But
the
court
wasn’t
buying
everything
WilmerHale
was
throwing
down.
Judge
Leonard
zeroed
in
on
the
firm’s
ability
to
unilaterally
increase
its
hourly
rates,
something
he
found
“irreconcilable”
with
the
CBA
framework.
The
court
found
that
WilmerHale
increased
rates
twice
during
the
retainer
period
without
notifying
Safra,
calling
it
“an
evident
failure
to
give
adequate
costs
information.”
On
the
positive
side
for
the
Biglaw
firm,
Judge
Leonard
acknowledged
that
Trenor
and
his
team
“worked
extremely
hard,
under
substantial
pressure,
to
help
the
claimant
achieve
his
goals”
and
that
the
hours
billed
were
“explained”
and
“commensurate
with
the
scale
of
work.”
He
also
noted
that
WilmerHale’s
rates
were
broadly
comparable
to
other
advisers
in
the
matter
and
that
the
increases
were
“largely
inflation-based.”
So
now
the
Biglaw
bills
are
under
the
microscope
with
Judge
Leonard’s
assessment
headed
Wilmer’s
way.
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of
The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
follow
her
on
Twitter
@Kathryn1 or
Mastodon
@[email protected].