Philadelphia federal district court judge Harvey Bartle III has awarded $567.67 million in fees to plaintiff’s lawyers in the gigantic fen-phen litigation, which has lasted nine years. Judge Bartel accepted 70 firms’ claim to have spent 578,048 hours on the suit (Alison Frankel, American Lawyer, Apr. 10). Ted, at Point of Law, notes that the sum does not include large contingent fees obtained on behalf of claimants who opted out of the group settlement.
“$982 An Hour for Fen-Phen Plaintiffs’ Lawyers”
Philadelphia federal district court judge Harvey Bartle III has awarded $567.67 million in fees to plaintiff’s lawyers in the gigantic fen-phen litigation, which has lasted nine years. Judge Bartel accepted 70 firms’ claim to have spent 578,048 hours on the suit (Alison Frankel, American Lawyer, Apr. 10). Ted, at Point of Law, notes that the […]
3 Comments
That number of hours has to be more inflated than the price of gasoline. If my math is right, That would be the same as putting in 66 years worth of work, assuming one did nothing else, no breaks or sleeping. So my question would be, exactly how many lawyers were working on this scam? What happened to the firms other clients?
Disgusting. Such rates are like saying lawyers are gods. No one would say that or could say that, I humbly toss into the mix of legal correctness. The good judge, who apparently is the third iteration of himself, is merely bringing the profession to its earliest demise. Look at it another way — surely three years of school after college justifies such theft of the commons.
THATS 1032.22 DAYS, 8 HOURS A DAY 7 DAYS A WEEK
IS THERE A WEB SITE THAT TELLS WHATS GOING ON WITH THE SETTLEMENT CURRENTLY, EVERYTHING I FIND IS 2-3 YEARS OLD. I RECEIVED A CHECK A YEAR AGO FOR FORTY PERCENT, LAWYER REDUCED HIS FEES DOWN TO 42%, NOW I AM TOLD THAT THE COURT HAS NOT EVEN FINISHED THEIR PAPERWORK, A YEAR LATER. WISH I COULD RUN MY BUSINESS THAT WAY