Judge Lashes Out At Greedy Bankruptcy Lawyers

Law firm Sidley Austin was humiliated today, when Tribune Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey publicly chastised Sidley's bankruptcy practice for blatantly representing the stereotype of greedymoneygrubbing lawyers, demanding the highest known legal hourly fee ever of $1,100 per hour and limited the company to a maximum hourly compensation of $925.

Carey stated that any lawyer who tries to charge $1,000 an hour will need to prove he or she is worth that much.

"To the extent that this applicant or any other hits that mark I will require evidence in support of that rate," Carey said.

Bankruptcy law firms have been on a vulture bonanza as they seek to charge exorbitant hourly fees and participate in every bankruptcy case en masse. As we wrote, there ware roughly 513 lawyers involed in the Lehman bankruptcy case alone. In the Lehman case, advisors are expected to collect $1.4 billion, while main restructuring advisor Alvarez and Marsal had charged $400,000/day in its most recent request for compensation approval.