The record $305 million awarded in attorney fees by the Delaware Chancery Court earlier this year in the battle involving Grupo Mexico, Southern Copper, and Minera Mexico, had drawn immediate flak from critics who argued the quotient of $35,000 per hour for legal work was unfair. However, a motion for reargument on the attorney fees award was rejected by the Delaware Supreme Court on Friday on procedural grounds and because no stockholder has a claim to any particular assets.

The defendants pointed out that the attorney fees component was grossly disproportionate to the benefits received by the minority shareholders, who would receive only $386 million out of the matter, and hence vis-à-vis their position, the attorney fees was not 15 percent, but tantamount to 79% of award received.
While the matter can make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, the chances are slim as interest accruing on the judgment per day is more than $210,000.
The fee award has been made to the law firms of Prickett, Jones & Elliott of Wilmington and Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check of Radnor, Pennsylvania, and is believed to be the biggest-ever attorney fees award made by the Delaware Chancery Court.
At the time of making the award, the chief judge of the Delaware Chancery Court had held that he had calculated the fees not only according to a percentage of the judgment award, but also as an incentive for lawyers to achieve positive outcomes for their clients.