Stats Of The Week: FIFA Lawyers Up

Steep legal bills loom for FIFA, of course.

onJune 5, 2015 at 4:01 PMJuly 23, 2015 at 11:23 AM

Biglaw firms are picking up all the plum representations of indicted parties in the wide-ranging FIFA corruption case. As detailed in the Am Law Daily yesterday, major firms retained to represent organizations and individuals caught up in the scandal include Clifford Chance, Sidley Austin, Cleary Gottlieb, and Holland & Knight.

The highest profile gig, representing Zurich-based FIFA itself, goes to Quinn Emanuel’s William Burck. It is tough to mention Burck without citing his fascinating roster of current and former clients, which includes George W. Bush, Kim Dotcom, and former Kenyan prime minister Raila Odinga. He also helped prosecute the notorious Martha Stewart.

FIFA is not exactly known as a frugal organization, with a corporate culture embracing luxury cat apartments and whatnot, so we can assume its ongoing legal expenses will be extremely steep. Quinn places at No. 13 on the most widely cited summary of Biglaw’s highest billing rates, with an average rate of $915/hour for partners, and a top rate of $675/hour for associates. (Interestingly, published reports concerning Burck/Quinn’s representation of House Republicans in their suit against President Obama for alleged abuses of executive authority cite Burck’s rate as $500/hour, but that must be some sort of government discount, right?)