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HEY, $400 AN HOUR IS CHEAP! YOU SHOULD SEE WHAT I CHARGE MY PARISH!
Last December, Carolyn Elefant asked whether or not the rates charged by solos and small firms to low-income clients -- including forgiving bills and creating installment plans -- should be considered pro bono. Now she writes:
"For those who don't endorse that idea, consider this: big law firm Skadden Arps wants to claim that its work to bring a [San Francisco] school district into compliance with the American Disabilities Act is pro bono, not withstanding that the firm is seeking $9 million in attorneys fees ..."
Later Elefant adds this comment:
"Certainly, from a cost-benefit analysis, a $9 million investment for a $300 million return is excellent. But that doesn't make the legal fee reasonable under the Ethics Code. I looked up the bio of Jose Allen, the partner seeking the $810/hour at the Skadden site. Now, granted, this guy is a top-rate litigator with experience in multimillion-dollar tort claims, complex securities and environmental litigation. But I didn't see that he's any kind of an expert on ADA, which was the subject of the suit. So under an objective standard, I'm not sure how the $810/hour is reasonable in this particular case."
What do you think? Elefant's racking up the comments here:
Reader DLS comments: "I hate to defend biglaw, and I would like to see them retract the assertion that their work was pro bono, but let us not be so quick to crucify them. After all, how many solos would be able to put up 20,000 hours of billable hours on a case they might never see a nickel from?"
Reader biglaw hater responds: "There is no answer, other than that biglaw partners are a pathetic joke."
Posted by John Bringardner on February 10, 2005 at 04:32 PM | Permalink
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