Lawyers for the state of Michigan and Detroit put in their fee requests seeking to recoup the cost of litigating out a coup. According to the requests, the state wants a shade over $20,000 for its legal work, while Detroit wants around $180,000 to cover its hiring of Fink Bressack as outside counsel. Skimming through the requests, it’s striking that — while the case didn’t get mired in discovery where bills generally skyrocket — this is still a remarkably reasonable bill considering the amount of work that went into fighting this case.
Think of all the birthday greetings from Rudy they could have bought with that $200K!
Alas, lawyer friends, we’re inevitably entering another news cycle of mainstream journalists reacting with shock and alarm that litigation bills cost even this meager amount. It’s the same thing that happened when Barbara Jones turned in a $47K bill for one week of work and we had to remind everyone that lawyers billing $700+/hour are going to rack up big numbers if you plunge them into a high-stakes litigation. That Detroit’s firm walked away only asking for $180K is a boon for Sidney Powell, Lin Wood, and the rest of team Kraken. Nonetheless, we’re again forced to defend the honor of this profession’s billing practices.
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And this isn’t the end of the troubles for Team Kraken. Wisconsin is seeking another $100K in fees. Unfortunately for them, a court order would prevent them from following their hero Donald Trump’s tried and true strategy for dealing with legal bills: just not paying them. Sad.
Or to put this in terms that the Kraken itself might understand:
Pro-Trump lawyers face $200,000 legal bill for ‘frivolous’ election case [Reuters]
Michigan officials demand pro-Trump lawyers reimburse state for costs of election case [The Hill]
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Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.