Overlawyered » feeing frenzy http://overlawyered.com Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:11:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Before hiring a criminal defense lawyer… http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/before-hiring-a-criminal-defense-lawyer/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/before-hiring-a-criminal-defense-lawyer/#comments Wed, 28 Sep 2011 13:16:50 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24818 …consider this cautionary tale [Brian Tannebaum].

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/before-hiring-a-criminal-defense-lawyer/feed/ 3 “Nine ways lawyers inflate their bills” http://overlawyered.com/2011/05/nine-ways-lawyers-inflate-their-bills/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/05/nine-ways-lawyers-inflate-their-bills/#comments Fri, 13 May 2011 05:04:42 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=22969 Some law firms set up a separate business to run their conference rooms, enabling them to charge the rooms out for client meetings rather than treat them as overhead. And watch out for hefty charges for the time spent preparing the client’s bill itself. [Dan Fisher, Forbes]

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/05/nine-ways-lawyers-inflate-their-bills/feed/ 1 Flak for Cobell fees, cont’d http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/flak-for-cobell-fees-contd/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/flak-for-cobell-fees-contd/#comments Mon, 28 Feb 2011 05:21:23 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=21714 Criticism continues to mount (”shameful,” “excessive”) over lawyers’ effort to nab $223 million in fees for representing Indian tribes’ interest in the long-running Cobell litigation over management of trust funds. [BLT (quoting former Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.), and more (DoJ); PoL; earlier here and here (Kilpatrick Stockton lawyer Keith Harper considered for Tenth Circuit appointment)]

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/flak-for-cobell-fees-contd/feed/ 1 CCAF amicus brief in fen-phen fees case http://overlawyered.com/2010/03/ccaf-amicus-brief-in-fen-phen-fees-case/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/03/ccaf-amicus-brief-in-fen-phen-fees-case/#comments Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:22:22 +0000 Ted Frank http://overlawyered.com/?p=16522 Overlawyered readers are well aware of the sorry history of the fen-phen litigation; those that aren’t are advised to check out Professor Lester Brickman’s summary.

In April 2008, the Diet Drugs MDL district court awarded $567 million the class counsel in that case, basing the award in part on representations by class counsel about future class recovery. A year later, a plaintiff’s attorney requested the court reopen the question of the fee award because the class counsel had exaggerated those estimates. The district court refused, holding that the one-year delay in bringing the Rule 60(b) motion was not a “reasonable time.” There has been an appeal to the Third Circuit, and, today, the Center for Class Action Fairness filed an amicus brief in support of the appeal that itself provides a short overview of the history of the fen-phen MDL. Many thanks to Chris Arfaa for his generous help in filing the brief.

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2010/03/ccaf-amicus-brief-in-fen-phen-fees-case/feed/ 0 K&L Gates blasted for high fees, “unnecessary lawyering” http://overlawyered.com/2010/01/kl-gates-blasted-for-high-fees-unnecessary-lawyering/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/01/kl-gates-blasted-for-high-fees-unnecessary-lawyering/#comments Fri, 29 Jan 2010 05:25:32 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=15808 Massachusetts’s highest court thought it a bit much that fees and costs would eat up $800,000 from an estate valued at $1.2 million, or two-thirds of the value at stake. [Robert Ambrogi, Legal Blog Watch; Above the Law]

Incidentally, Robert Ambrogi is hanging up his keyboard after an impressive four-year tenure at Law.com’s Legal Blog Watch, but he’ll continue to maintain his other sites. He has kind words for this site as one to “follow religiously”, too.

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2010/01/kl-gates-blasted-for-high-fees-unnecessary-lawyering/feed/ 2 November 23 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/november-23-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/november-23-roundup-2/#comments Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:55:37 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=14852
  • “Ten Ways Lawyers Rip Off Clients” [Lawrence Delevingne and Gus Lubin, Business Insider]
  • White House visitor logs contain more entries for trial lawyer lobbyist Linda Lipsen (5x) than for Hillary Clinton (3x) (h/t ShopFloor)
  • Time magazine has a cover story on child overprotectiveness [Free-Range Kids]
  • “Why so many talented people give up on moving to the US”: one immigrant’s 7 year journey through the legal paperwork [Pete Warden]
  • Speaking for the whole New York profession? “New York Bar Association president decries tort reform proposals” [Rizo, Legal NewsLine]
  • Chamber of Commerce “needs to develop thicker skin” in response to Yes Men parody [LA Times]
  • New York: “Judges collect pension and regular pay, and it’s perfectly legal” [Jonathan Bandler, Journal News]
  • Cook County “out $14K for toilet paper injury” [Chicago Sun-Times]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/november-23-roundup-2/feed/ 0     Trial to open in Alice Lawrence/Graubard Miller case http://overlawyered.com/2009/10/trial-to-open-in-alice-lawrencegraubard-miller-case/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/10/trial-to-open-in-alice-lawrencegraubard-miller-case/#comments Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:39:30 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=14012 The trial will consider whether the law firm is entitled to a $42 million contingency fee under circumstances criticized by Ted in this space two years ago and David Giacalone more recently. [NYLJ]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2009/10/trial-to-open-in-alice-lawrencegraubard-miller-case/feed/ 0     Golden receivers, cont’d http://overlawyered.com/2009/08/golden-receivers-contd/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/08/golden-receivers-contd/#comments Mon, 17 Aug 2009 04:19:55 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=13202 Critics including the Securities and Exchange Commission dispute whether receivers really deserve $27 million for their work through May in cleaning up after the collapse of Texas businessman R. Allen Stanford’s empire. [AP/USA Today; earlier]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2009/08/golden-receivers-contd/feed/ 0     “Golden receivers” http://overlawyered.com/2009/08/golden-receivers/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/08/golden-receivers/#comments Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:02:31 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=13100 Fees for receivers, administrators and other professionals are eating up too much of the remaining assets of Madoff and other collapsed investment ventures, critics charge: “in one recent $6.6 million fraud, the receiver distributed 43 percent of the assets to the victim — the rest went to professionals.” [NY Post]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2009/08/golden-receivers/feed/ 7     May 6 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2009/05/may-6-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/05/may-6-roundup-2/#comments Wed, 06 May 2009 12:46:28 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=10977
  • Eeeeuw! Missouri woman’s suit says she was groped by Chuck E. Cheese mascot [Heller/OnPoint News] Parade of other bad things that can happen at theme enterprises and amusement parks [Lemondrop.com]
  • “The Doctor Will Sue You Now”: why chapter about scientist-turned-vitamin salesman and his relations with African-leader “AIDS dissidents” is missing from book by British writer Ben Goldacre [BoingBoing]
  • Just trying to make an honest living? “A former federal prosecutor who became one of New Jersey’s brashest and best-known criminal defense lawyers pleaded guilty today to helping run an exclusive Manhattan call-girl ring.” [Newark Star-Ledger via ABA Journal]
  • “Perez Hilton Sends DMCA Takedown Over Anti-Gay-Marriage Ad” [Citizen Media Law]
  • How not to get excused from jury service [Lowering the Bar; Montana, via Smoking Gun, etc.]
  • Multiplied vexation: “Stopping a serial suer” [SE Texas Record]
  • If exhortation does any good: “Judge Exhorts Class Action Lawyers to Forestall Feeding Frenzy Over Fees” [Henry Gottlieb, NJLJ]
  • More on bodega raids by rogue Philadelphia narcotics unit [Radley Balko, earlier here and here]
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