Miscellaneous

Enron lawyers want $695 million; Texas objects

By Walter Olson, Ted Frank, and David Nieporent

Class action lawyers who went after the various deep pockets in the Enron Corp. collapse -- the team was led by now-disgraced William Lerach -- want what may be a world record fee for an action of the sort. Highlight: Columbia lawprof John Coffee, whom lawyers often bring in to testify for fee requests, says courts' eventual rejection of the lawyers' claims against banks and investment companies -- after some had paid fortunes to avoid the risk of trial -- is actually a reason to pay the lawyers more, 'cause it shows that they were being creative and taking risks:

The Columbia professor, who was hired to submit a declaration supporting the award of legal fees, said it was a testament to Lerach's skills that he convinced large corporations to pay billions in a case that turned out to be fatally flawed. "We now know it was an extraordinarily high-risk case because, ultimately, you lost it," he said.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is among those objecting to the fees as excessive. (Josh Gerstein, "Judge To Mull $695 Million Legal Fee", New York Sun, Feb. 29; "Texas Objects To Enron Fees", Mar. 13).

Full post as published by Overlawyered on March 18, 2008 (boomark / email).