How Many Lawyers Does It Take To Solve Madoff? Can You Say Over 300?

You can observe a lot by watching, as the great Yogi Berra has said. So, let’s keep looking at the request for $47.9 million in additional legal fees that has just been filed by Madoff trustee Irving Picard and his law firm, Baker & Hostetler LLP. It makes us here at the Financial Fraud Law Blog and the Financial Fraud Law Report recognize the incredible scope of this financial fraud. 

One of the things that strikes us is the sheer number of lawyers at Baker who work on the case. There are about 117 partners and counsel at the firm who worked on Madoff during the four month period covered by the $47.9 million fee request, and close to 200 associates. Not to mention dozens of paralegals, clerks, library staff and other non-legal staff.
 
The top three senior lawyers with the most hours billed on Madoff matters during this period are David Sheehan (pictured) (877.90), John Hannon (1,025.50), and Mark Kornfeld (923.90). If one extrapolates from this four month period to a full year, then David Sheehan, Picard’s lead lawyer, will bill over 2,600 hours on Madoff; Hannon will bill over 3,000 hours; and Kornfeld will bill over 2,700 hours.
 
That’s a busy schedule.
 
Six associates billed over 800 hours each during the period, with a number of others over 700 hours.
 
The top billing rate, for partners and counsel, is $850 per hour (Sheehan, Picard, John Carney, and Lauren Resnick). The “blended rate” for partners and counsel is reported as $692.54 per hour; for associates, it is $373.49.
 
Here’s a summary:
 
                                                           Hours                           Total Fees
  
Partners and of Counsel Total               30,744.00                    $19,368,794.00
 
Associates Total                                  81,013.90                    $29,013,975.00
 
Paralegals, etc.                                    18,838.60                     $4,914,310.50
 
Total Fees Incurred                             130,596.50                    $53,297,079.50