STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Wednesday, 31 December 2014

[Demeter]

29. Bankruptcy lawyer billed Detroit $34K for Florida travel

One of the city's highest-paid bankruptcy lawyers charged Detroit almost $34,000 to travel between the bankrupt city and his Florida vacation home.

Attorney David Heiman, a $1,075-an-hour partner at the city's bankruptcy law firm, Jones Day, also billed the city for private cars to ferry him between Detroit and his home in Cleveland, Ohio, and transportation between Florida airports and his vacation home near Fort Myers, Florida, according to bills reviewed by The Detroit News.

The expenses could be scrutinized during closed-door negotiations that start Wednesday in federal court over the reasonableness of more than $140 million in legal fees charged by the city's lawyers and consultants.

Mayor Mike Duggan is concerned that escalating legal fees could eat up money needed to revitalize Detroit, and U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes has ordered the city and its team of professionals to participate in private negotiations that could result in lower bills.

Heiman, 69, is one of the city's highest-paid bankruptcy lawyers and has received a $100-an-hour raise since Detroit filed bankruptcy in July 2013.

Two other Jones Day partners bill at that same $1,075 hourly rate: Corinne Ball and Bruce Bennett.

The hourly rate is not necessarily out of line. Attorney Kenneth Klee, who handled the bankruptcy case of Jefferson County, Alabama, billed $1,050 an hour and two partners charged $950, according to al.com, an Alabama news organization.

Heiman has charged the city at least $33,837 for traveling to and from his Florida vacation home — that's more than the average annual pension of retired Detroit police officers and firefighters ($30,607) and almost twice as much as a non-uniform retiree's pension. ...

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2014/12/02/bankruptcy-legal-fees/19815475/