In a March 2015 decision in a patent infringement case, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California awarded defendant’s attorneys over 5.5 million dollars in attorney’s fees and expenses. The Court granted the award even though defendant failed to provide “billing records” in support of its fee demand. (Kilopass Tech., Inc. v. […] Read More...
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The Iowa Supreme Court has reprimanded an Illinois attorney resulting from his multiple billings of a client for sanctions stemming from his misconduct in connection with his representation of Deere & Co.[1] According to the Iowa Supreme Court Disciplinary Board, the attorney failed to communicate to the client regarding the nature of a discovery dispute, […] Read More...
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A plaintiff in a civil rights lawsuit over the denial of a handgun permit had its request for attorney fees slashed by more than $184,000. In a March 2015 decision, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York drastically reduced the fee award because some of the attorneys’ billing entries were impermissibly […] Read More...
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A unanimous decision by the First Department’s Appellate Division reversed the lower court’s denial of attorneys’ fees to a prevailing tenant in an eviction case thereby essentially eliminating the “colorable claim” standard that has prevailed in the courts to date.[1] The eviction dispute as well as the correlating overcharge (of rent) proceeding stems from the […] Read More...
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Technology within the legal community is at a highpoint as communicating has become far easier than ever in the history of legal practice.[1] Today, we have eDiscovery, smart phones with constant updates, and research at our fingertips, as well as pleadings that can be sent in a nanosecond.[2] Has this made members of the legal […] Read More...
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Cities filing for bankruptcy should realize that its costs may far outweigh any benefits and attempting to restructure outside of court proceedings should be given prudent thought.[1] The city of San Bernardino in California filed bankruptcy in the middle of 2012 “with a $45 million budget deficit” and thus far has paid over $6 million […] Read More...
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Prestigious law firm, Jackson Lewis, announced it is eliminating the billable hour for its associates on January 1, 2015, focusing its concentration on alternative fee arrangements instead.[2] It appears that Jackson Lewis (“the firm”) believes eliminating billable hour requirements throughout its nationwide offices will shift its associates’ focus to more efficient practices to achieve the […] Read More...
Posted On February 25th, 2015 by Legal Fee Advisors
In an October 2014 decision, the Supreme Court of Florida ruled that certain Florida statutes allowing awards of attorney’s fees to the prevailing parties were, in fact, applicable to the class action suit brought by firefighters and police officers for pension plan benefits.[1] This class action was brought by a retired beneficiary of the plan […] Read More...
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Posted On February 18th, 2015 by Legal Fee Advisors
A fee application was filed by Napoli Bern & Associates’ for $69.6 million in expenses, in addition to $152 million in gross fees, while co-representing Ground Zero workers afflicted with various illnesses after their heroism was successfully challenged by legal partner, Worby Groner Edelman, LLP.[1] In 2004, Napoli Bern partnered with Worby Groner to represent […] Read More...
Posted On February 4th, 2015 by Legal Fee Advisors
In an August 2014 opinion, while recognizing that it is well established that an attorney may receive fee payments for legal fees via credit card, The New York City Bar Association’s Committee on Professional Ethics (“Committee”) stated that attorneys may not charge that credit card for disputed fees. The New York Rules of Professional Conduct […] Read More...
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