Lawyers bill Sports Authority $2M in April; hour rates float past $1K

The Sports Castle on Broadway is liquidating merchandise and preparing to close.

The Sports Castle on Broadway is liquidating merchandise and preparing to close.

As Sports Authority bails on leases and negotiates with creditors, one set of vendors expects payment in full.

According to court documents filed on Thursday, the two law firms working for the bankrupt retailer billed their client $2.1 million in the month of April. The most expensive lawyer charges $1,300 per hour.

Just a day earlier, Sports Authority formally notified its 460 employees that they were out of a job.

The single most expensive attorney in April was Robert Klyman, a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher who billed the most hours at the second-highest rate for his firm.

Sports Authority is on the hook to pay Klyman more than $300,000 for his services last month, or $1,215 for each of his 250 billed hours.

At Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, the second law firm on Sports Authority’s payroll, associate Andrew Magaziner clocked 260 hours and billed the most of anyone at his firm: $121,000.

Since Sports Authority declared bankruptcy, the total tab for both firms is $4.36 million.

That doesn’t include the $4.4 million that Sports Authority paid Gibson Dunn & Crutcher for services before it filed for bankruptcy:

As a debtor in possession, Sports Authority must seek court approval to pay the professionals it employs.

Rather than restructure its assets and emerge from bankruptcy a smaller company, the sporting goods chain has sold its remaining assets to liquidators and plans to shutter all stores.

The Sports Castle on Broadway is liquidating merchandise and preparing to close.

The Sports Castle on Broadway is liquidating merchandise and preparing to close.

As Sports Authority bails on leases and negotiates with creditors, one set of vendors expects payment in full.

According to court documents filed on Thursday, the two law firms working for the bankrupt retailer billed their client $2.1 million in the month of April. The most expensive lawyer charges $1,300 per hour.

Just a day earlier, Sports Authority formally notified its 460 employees that they were out of a job.

The single most expensive attorney in April was Robert Klyman, a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher who billed the most hours at the second-highest rate for his firm.

Sports Authority is on the hook to pay Klyman more than $300,000 for his services last month, or $1,215 for each of his 250 billed hours.

At Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, the second law firm on Sports Authority’s payroll, associate Andrew Magaziner clocked 260 hours and billed the most of anyone at his firm: $121,000.

Since Sports Authority declared bankruptcy, the total tab for both firms is $4.36 million.

That doesn’t include the $4.4 million that Sports Authority paid Gibson Dunn & Crutcher for services before it filed for bankruptcy:

As a debtor in possession, Sports Authority must seek court approval to pay the professionals it employs.

Rather than restructure its assets and emerge from bankruptcy a smaller company, the sporting goods chain has sold its remaining assets to liquidators and plans to shutter all stores.

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One response to “Lawyers bill Sports Authority $2M in April; hour rates float past $1K”

  1. Lawyers should be paid and not knowing the specifics, its tough to assess the reasonableness of the fees. That being said, Ouch! This is a good example of the cost of doing business with law firms that employ traditional hourly billing structures.

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