Kirby McInerney Defends $100M Fee Request In Citi Case

Law 360 reports on Frank’s objection to the fees in a Citigroup settlement in which the plaintiffs’ lawyers overcharged the class members they represented.

Frank, a Citigroup shareholder, was successful in arguing with the federal judge overseeing the case to see some Kirby McInerney billing records following the settlement announcement last May.

In recent objections, he has argued that the discovery records show the firm wants to collect as much as $550 an hour for mundane work done by low-paid contract lawyers hired through a vendor, some of whom he says have highly questionable legal experience.

Even more damning, Frank says, are records showing that Kirby McInerney billed about a third of its total lodestar hours after the parties agreed to the settlement, a move he characterizes as flagrant bill padding and fraud that could translate into tens of millions of dollars in fees at the clients’ expense.

Read the full article at Law 360.