WilmerHale Slapped Down for Excessive Attorney Fees
Most law firms avoid posting jobs on Indeed or LinkedIn due to high costs. Instead, they publish them on their own websites, bar association pages, and niche legal boards. LawCrossing finds these hidden jobs, giving you access to exclusive opportunities. Sign up now!
But when the firm recently tried to double their attorney fees for a case, the judge balked. Normally, you tally up the time spent on the case, multiply that by the hourly attorney rate, and there you go — a number that makes the accounting department reach for the Tums.
But WilmerHale thought that was still too low — so they argued that they should be able to take the standard rate and then double it, because the hourly rate is a 50% discount for what their work is actually worth. In the context of collecting these fees against their opponent, this is quite a claim. Who wouldn't want to argue that they are worth over $1,000 an hour, as WilmerHale is asserting their attorneys are really worth?
The judge in question, however, pretty much laughed this argument out of court when WilmerHale presented it. When your bill is over $9 million to begin with, it takes a lot of gall to claim it needs to go up to $18 million based on claims of "superior lawyering." Other firms might want to take note that, in essence, WilmerHale is saying that they deserve twice as much as comparable firms because they are twice as good as any other firm. Somehow that doesn't ring true, and the judge said so, mentioning that even if WilmerHale is full of legal superstars, they are already billing at superstar rates. Why double them?
Meanwhile, McAfee Corporation must be kicking themselves. They just lost a case against WilmerHale in which they had hired WilmerHale but then felt they had been overbilled. Judging by this latest case, it appears that trying to bill extortionate amounts for legal work might be a pattern at WilmerHale.
In other words, if WilmerHale is representing you, make sure the other side gets stuck with the bill, because it will likely be huge! Even after the judge disallowed the doubling of their fees in this case, WilmerHale still walked home with over $7 million.
Gain an advantage in your legal job search. LawCrossing uncovers hidden positions that firms post on their own websites and industry-specific job boards—jobs that never appear on Indeed or LinkedIn. Don't miss out. Sign up now!
