- In total, McDermott Will & Emery has billed more than $16 million
- This significantly exceeds the planned budget for attorney fees
Dermott Will & Emery has requested a $5.1 million fee from Voyager’s committee of unsecured creditors for the March through May period inclusive. Lawyers from the agency had previously been involved in a deal with FTX that eventually fell through.
This is confirmed by a new petition filed on behalf of the debtors in the bankruptcy court. It also states that since July 2022, the committee must pay more than $16 million for McDermott Will & Emery’s activities.
The average “price tag” for the services of rank-and-file lawyers at this company, based on documents, is $1,026 per hour. That, oddly enough, is significantly less than what the lawyers at Kirkland & Ellis earn directly.
Reminder, the agency billed Voyager $1.1 million for just one month of work.. And, of course, it doesn’t compare to the FTX lawyers’ fees. Here, the three-month bill was more than $120 million.
What did McDermott Will & Emery do? The agency’s lawyers were preparing a takeover of Voyager by the FTX exchange.. But it had to be cancelled because of the latter’s bankruptcy.
It’s interesting that the restructuring plan allocated only $11.2 million for attorneys.. So far, the debtors have repaid $8.9 million..
Do we have to say that these demands will hurt the wallet of the platform’s users by reducing the compensation payout?
Would it be fair to say that such requests would hurt the bottom line?