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DAILY BUSINESS REVIEW MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2012 dailybusinessreview.com A9 SPecial rePort Lawyers Compensation Survey THE 925 $ MAN At least one South Florida attorney is billing more than $900 an hour, but clients are increasing pressure for alternative billing arrangements to control costs. by Susan Postlewaite Special to the review Global mega-firm Baker & McKenzie in July raised its hourly billing rates in its Miami outpost across the board, leading the charge across the $900 threshold. Miami managing partner and senior tax lawyer Robert F. Hudson said the firm brought his office’s billing rates closer in line with outposts in other large U.S. cities. The lowest partner billing rate in Miami is now $625. Associate billing rates now range from a low of $270 to the $600s for a senior associate. The firm has U.S. offices in NewYork,Washington, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, San Francisco and Palo Alto, California. “We’re not identical because we didn’t want to raise more than a certain amount, but we’re pretty close,” he said. For example he said peers in international tax law in New York are charging $1,000 an hour. “I didn’t want to charge that.” While many firms moved selectively with hourly rates hikes this year, not all were buying into the new era of modest post-recession legal fee rate hikes, according to the Daily Business Review’s annual survey of lawyer compensation, which included a review of fee applications and invoices from more than 40 firms. Hudson is at the top end in South Florida. “I am at $925 now. We raised rates across the board, and we haven’t seen any mate- rial push back. Of course clients have only seen it for one month so far. They are just now getting August bills,” he said. He added it’s common for highvolume clients to ask for a 10 percent discount. “I think people get good value. So far it seems to be accepted fine, and we’re making everybody work harder and smarter.” Other South Florida lawyers are known to have rates in the $900s. j. albert diaz Senior tax lawyer Robert F. Hudson holds the honor of South Florida’s highest billing rate after Baker & McKenzie raised his rate to $925 an hour to bring Miami closer in line with other large U.S. cities. The survey found most South Florida lawyers bill in the $400s and $500s. Many hourly billing increases scattered among partners and associates, but also found many instances where rates were flat or where firms discounted rates or used alternative fee structures. Waiting For ElEctions Joseph Altonji at Law Vision Group in Chicago said hourly rate increases nationally and in Florida since 2009 have tended to keep pace with inflation or apply selectively for star partners in sought-after fields. “ For years firms were raising rates by doubling the rate of inflation. It ended in 2007. Some people sort of wish that was going to happen again, but it’s not.” JosePh ALtonJI Co-founDeR LAW VIsIon GRouP “For years firms were raising rates by doubling the rate of inflation. It ended in 2007. Some people sort of wish that was going to happen again, but it’s not,” he said. “There are firms in South Florida doing extremely well in the market and firms that are doing poorly. I expect average rate increases in the two to four percent range — at most — with some at zero,” Altonji said. “Firms are taking a much harder look at individual performance rather than just raising everybody five percent instead of what they used to do. “ a quick look at the coSt of legal ServiceS in South florida ■ Want an international tax lawyer at a mega firm in Miami? It could cost you $925 an hour. ■ Legal fees for unraveling the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm’s Ponzi scheme? More than $20 million, so far. ■ An auto insurer that balked at paying a claim and loses a Personal Injury Protection suit in court can end up paying $500 an hour in Dade and $400 in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Altonji said the elections play a part. “Everybody is playing wait and see — we are not going to do anything until we know what the new rules are,” he said. Among firms raising rates for select attorneys, Greenberg Traurig boosted hourly rates at varying percentages; 3 percent for one; 10 percent for another. (For example banking partner Mark Bloom’s rate rose from $825 to $850 this year, and partner Scott Grossman’s rate went from $550 to $605. The rates were disclosed in documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court where Greenberg has been representing the estate of the original BankUnited since 2009.) Greenberg associates went up to a high of $440 compared to $400 in last year’s survey. Like some other firms with large bankruptcy practices, Berger Singerman’s rates went up by $20 to $30 per hour. Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod, whose lawyers are ushering a Cabi Developers affiliate through Chapter 11, increased rates for various partners. Mindy Mora went up 6 percent to $600 from $565. Klugler Kaplan Silverman Katzen & Levine bumped up rates, as did Ver Ploeg & Lumpkin. Both are working sEE compEnsation, pagE a13 A10 dailybusinessreview.com MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2012 DAILY BUSINESS REVIEW DAILY BUSINESS REVIEW MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2012 Special Report Lawyer Compensation Survey Lawyer Compensation A guide to our methodology Firm Location Rate Firm The hourly billing rates in the accompanying charts were culled from a variety of sources, including fee petitions filed in federal and state courts from October 2010 to September 2011. In addition, the Daily Business Review examined bills submitted to state agencies by law firms. In some cases, the listed rates reflect what law firms reported they charge. The listed rates do not necessarily indicate what attorneys received for their work. Rates may have increased since the bills were compiled. Location Rate Firm The listed rates are for bankruptcy, commercial litigation and other types of civil legal services. Rates for criminal defense attorneys were not collected. The charts are not meant to be a complete survey of hourly rates for all firms and attorneys in South Florida. The Review cannot say whether these are typical rates for the individual lawyers and firms or determine what fee arrangements these lawyers and firms make. For instance, it is common in fraud cases for court-appointed receivers to work for reduced hourly rates. Location Rate Firm Rice Pugatch Akerman Senterfitt Samuel C. Ullman Miami $640 Patricia Leonard Miami $495 Partner Martin A. Schwartz Miami $605 Associates Miami $265-$440 dailybusinessreview.com The data in the main chart are organized alphabetically by law firm and by highest to lowest dollar figures for attorneys and staffers. The chart shows rates for individual partners and ranges for associates and paraprofessionals. If a partner had offered more than one rate, the highest rate was used. In fee petitions, some law firms disclose a range of hourly rates for all attorneys in the firm, but other firms don’t. For those firms, the listed ranges represent the highest and lowest rates that could be found in court documents. Rate ranges for some firms may be incomplete. Location Rate Craig A. Pugatch Fort Lauderdale $350 Partner Michael Goldberg Fort Lauderdale $595 Carey A. Stiss Miami $605 Marc J. Gottlieb Fort Lauderdale $500 A. Vicky Garcia-Toledo Miami $600 Infante Zumpano Associate Fort Lauderdale $300 Mindy A. Mora Miami $600 Partner Paraprofessional Fort Lauderdale $160 Howard E. Nelson Miami $575 Luis Salazar Mitch E. Widom Miami $570 Of counsel Jay M. Sakalo Miami $550 Linda Jackson Jason Z. Jones Miami $495 Partner Coral Gables $550 Associates Miami $270-$435 Hunton & Williams John C. Shawde Coral Gables $550 Paraprofessionals Miami $190-$235 Partner John D. Eaton Coral Gables $510 Paraprofessional Coral Gables $150 Philip J. Landau Boca Raton $440 Bradley S. Shraiberg Boca Raton $440 James T. Ferrara Boca Raton $375 John E. Page Boca Raton $400 Associates Boca Raton $220-$285 David C. Pollack Miami $650 Patricia Redmond Miami $625 Paraprofessional Miami $195 Joel L. Tabas Miami $525 Scott N. Brown Miami $425 Michael K. Northrop Miami $400 Associate Miami $400 Paraprofessional Miami $75 David Merrill Palm Beach $450 Tina Talarchyk Palm Beach $425 R. Hugh Lumpkin Miami $575 Jason Mazer Miami $500 Meghan C. Moore Miami $340 Associates Miami $195-$245 Paraprofessional Miami $190 Miami $695 Of counsel Joan M. Levit Fort Lauderdale $435 Associates Fort Lauderdale $250-$360 Aaronson Schantz Geoffrey S. Aaronson Miami $500 Of counsel Tamara D. McKeown Miami $425 Paraprofessional Miami $200 Baker & McKenzie Partners Miami $625-$925 Robert Hudson Miami $925 Associates Miami $270-$600 Billbrough & Marks Partner Coral Gables $450 Bartram Billbrough *** Coral Gables $475 Coral Gables $435 Coral Gables $435 Thomas R. Julin Miami $725 Jamie Isani* Miami $475 Associate Miami $475 Stuart L. Koenigsberg P.A. Ehrenstein Charbonneau Calderin Stuart Koenigsberg *** Miami $475 Partner Robert Charbonneau Miami $475 Klugler Kaplan Silverman Katzen & Levine Bast Amron Michael Ehrenstein Miami $450 Partner Partner Daniel Gold Miami $350 Bruce Katzen Brett Amron Miami $440 Associates Miami $180-$270 Of counsel Associates Miami $265 Paraprofessional Miami $90-$130 Michael Landen Associate Berger Singerman Furr & Cohen Partner Partner Miami $565 $425 Miami $345 Kozyak Tropin Throckmorton Paul Singerman Miami $625 Robert Furr Boca Raton $575 Partner Charles Lichtman Fort Lauderdale $625 Charles Cohen Boca Raton $500 David Rosendorf Coral Gables $450 Brian K. Gart Fort Lauderdale $610 Alvin Goldstein Boca Raton $450 Associate Coral Gables $350 Leslie Gern Cloyd Fort Lauderdale $575 Marc Barmat Boca Raton $400 Paraprofessional Coral Gables $150 Frank Scruggs Fort Lauderdale $565 Paraprofessional Boca Raton $175 Christopher Jarvinen Miami $550 Sharon Kegerreis Miami $550 Gelber Schachter & Greenberg Partner James Gassenheimer Miami $540 Partner Robin J. Rubens Miami $405 Robert Barron Fort Lauderdale $525 Dan Gelber Miami $650 Associates Miami $260-$300 Nick Jovanovich Fort Lauderdale $505 Adam Schachter Miami $475 Paraprofessional Miami $170 Michael Greene Boca Raton $490 Gerald Greenberg Miami $475 Ilyse M. Homer Miami $485 Marc Shuster Miami $415 GrayRobinson Partner Etan Mark Miami $410 Partner Michael S. Budwick Miami $565 Miami $435 Of counsel Levine Kellogg Lehman Schneider Robert Schatzman Miami $600 Solomon B. Genet Arthur Spector Boca Raton $600 Peter Quinter Miami $500 Of counsel Paul Avron Boca Raton $475 Steven Solomon Miami $450 Jessica Wasserstrom Miami $475 Debi Evans Galler Miami $475 Robert Lewis Miami $400 Associates Miami $250-$370 Deborah Talenfeld Miami $475 Of counsel Paraprofessional Miami $94-$205 Associates $295-$400 Fernando Menendez Miami $350 Paraprofessional $75-$200 Associates Miami $210-$250 Paraprofessional Miami $175 Becker Poliakoff Greenberg Traurig Partner Peter Quinter** Miami $500 Perry & Taylor Partner Francis M. Perry Palm Beach Gardens $400 S.L. Taylor Palm Beach Gardens $250 Partner Mark Bloom Miami $850 Marlene S. Reiss Esq. P.A. Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod Elliot Scherker Miami $685 Marlene S. Reiss*** Partner Scott Grossman Miami $605 Scott L. Baena Miami $700 William R. Siegel Miami $540 Alan Axelrod Miami $675 Lorne Cantor Miami $525 Rasco Klock Reininger Perez Esquenazi Vigil & Nieto Shraiberg, Ferrara & Landau Partner Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson Partner Tabas Freedman Soloff Miller & Brown Partner Talarchyk Merrill Partner Meland Russin & Budwick Ver Ploeg & Lumpkin Partner White & Case Partner Raoul Cantero Miami A11 $500 * Rate before promotion to partner in April ** Moved to GrayRobinson April 2012 *** Rates awarded to personal injury protection attorneys by courts. A12 dailybusinessreview.com MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2012 DAILY BUSINESS REVIEW Post-Ponzi work contrasts hourly rates, contingency fees last year. Another distribution is planned. Freedman said more assets will be recovered from a group that has not settled. “We’ve been in conversations with these folks for a year. We thought we may be able to resolve it pre-suit. It’s going to evolve into full-blown litigation. It’s going to be big and the claims are nasty,” he said. “I don’t want to quantify it, but it is substantial in the context of this case.” by Susan Postlewaite Special to the Review Two flamboyant Ponzi schemes being unraveled in South Florida bankruptcy courts are a contrast in billing — one was taken on contingency, the other on hourly rates. The contingency case is paying off for Tabas, Freedman, Soloff, Miller & Brown lawyers hunting for assets from the former University of Miami booster Nevin Shapiro’s nearly $1 billion dollar fraud. Shapiro is serving a 20-year prison sentence for bilking investors through his Capitol Investments USA Inc., which brought in $930 million from investors over the years before closing up shop in late 2009. The latest accounting July 16 shows Tabas Freedman as counsel to the bankruptcy trustee has been awarded $8.4 million in contingency fees based on its recoveries for the estate. “I keep my eye on the ball to bring in money,” partner Gary Freedman said.“The fee is what it is and what is approved by the court. As we bring in money, we get our contingency. The court’s always made it clear to us that we get money as it j. albert diaz Joel Tabas, left, and Gary Freedman agreed to contingency fees in the Nevin Shapiro fraud case because the estate was empty-handed. Tabas Freedman now gets one-third of what it recovers. comes in, and we’ve abided by that 100 percent,” he said. The contingency fee deal was agreed upon a year into the case when the estate was empty-handed. Tabas Freedman now gets one-third of what it recovers. The law firm bills separately for partner Joel Tabas, who is the Chapter 7 trustee in the Miami case. Tabas’ first invoice covering his work from Dec. 11, 2009, to July 16, 2012, seeks $457,885. The trustee also is paid on a contingency fee arrangement. He is entitled to fees of just about 3 percent of the funds he disburses for the estate. From December 2009 to July 2012 he disbursed $14.5 million. The accounting was made public in the first detailed report of the estate’s collections and disbursements. Since late 2009 the lawyers have recovered $25 million, and the trustee distributed $4.1 million to bilked investors Rothstein Fraud In Fort Lauderdale, bankruptcy lawyers working on the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler financing fraud are being paid to recover assets on hourly rates. These lawyers have billed more than $20 million in legal fees since the case began in 2009 after the collapse of the $1.2 billion enterprise. As of September, Berger Singerman, primary counsel to the trustee, had billed $14.2 million in fees and been paid $9.9 million. Paul Singerman said as of a July 30 accounting the lawyers had recovered about $100 million for the estate, but there are settlements awaiting court approval that will increase the figure to $144 million. The case is in the litigation stage with more recoveries expected, he said. Singerman said it would have been better for his firm if it were paid on contingency because of the large recoveries. He cited the settlement with the Ed Morse family entities for $30 million in 2010. “We didn’t even file a lawsuit. We had mediation, presented our case to the Morses, and we reached an out-of-court settlement. We got $30 million for the estate. To date … this firm’s total fees received is $12.725 million in almost three years. The Morse fee Singerman alone would have been 10½ million bucks” as a contingency. Genovese Joblove & Battista, secondary counsel for the trustee, has billed $5.38 million so far. Ver Ploeg & Lumpkin, special insurance counsel, has been paid $1.2 million. The trustee is holding back about 20 percent of fees for the firms until the case ends. DAILY BUSINESS REVIEW MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2012 dailybusinessreview.com A13 FROM PAGE A9 Compensation: New firms try alternative billing structures on the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm bankruptcy case in Fort Lauderdale. “ I am a big proponent of fixed fees. I think more small and middle size firms will have to move toward this model to at the very least maintain market share. There are too many lawyers in the marketplace.” Michael Goldstein Partner Goldstein Environmental Law Firm PIP Rates Some personal injury protection lawyer rates are going up courtesy of the courts. Although they do not often bill by the hour, courts have awarded higher hourly fees for PIP lawyers. Miami appellate lawyer Marlene Reiss confirmed she was awarded $500 an hour in a Miami case this year. Before that she was getting $475. “I do a fair amount of appellate work. Based on 22 years of experience, that’s the hourly rate the judges determined to be reasonable. Five hundred is certainly the upper range,” she said. Fort Lauderdale lawyer Adolfo Podrecca, a litigator with the personal injury law firm Fazio, DiSalvo, Cannon, Abers, Podrecca, Fazio & Carroll, said his rate set by the court has been $400, but the notion of hourly billing rates “is a fiction” because cases are normally taken on contingency. “The last time I went in front of a judge I was awarded $400, but that is not what a client would want to pay me. It is not a real example of what the market will bear. Average people would not be able to hire a lawyer for $400 an hour,” he said. On the other hand a federal judge in Vermont told Miami lawyers from Hunton & Willliams they were charging “exorbitant” hourly rates in a First Amendment case and ordered fees of Top-billing lawyers in South Florida Partner Firm Office Rate 1 Robert Hudson Baker & McKenzie Miami $925 2 Mark Bloom Greenberg Traurig Miami $850 3 Thomas R. Julin Hunton & Williams Miami $725 4 Scott L. Baena Bilzin Sumberg Miami $700 5 Raoul Cantero White & Case Miami $695 6 Elliot Scherker Greenberg Traurig Miami $685 7 Alan Axelrod Bilzin Sumberg Miami $675 8 Dan Gelber Gelber Schachter Miami $650 David C. Pollack Stearns Weaver Miami $650 Samuel C. Ullman Bilzin Sumberg Miami $640 10 $300 per hour for partner Tom Julin and $200 for senior associates. The judge awarded Hunton & Williams $2.24 million in a successful challenge to a Vermont law prohibiting use of doctor prescriptions by pharmaceutical marketing companies. But the judge’s order said: “Mr. Julin’s average hourly rate for the entire litigation was $670.66. Awarding associates hourly rates over $400 would be unconscionable in this litigation where attorney Hemley, a competent Vermont partner with over forty years of experience, requests an average hourly rate of $320. The average hourly rate of nearly $200 requested for Hunton & Williams’ paralegals is also exorbitant.” A reasonable hourly rate is “what a reasonable, paying client would be willing to pay,” and a reasonable paying client wishes to spend the minimum necessary to litigate the case effectively, the judge observed. New Firm Meanwhile some new law firms were setting hourly rates but also looking at alternative billing structures. Dan Gelber said his new firm Gelber Schachter & Greenberg in Miami essee compensation, page a14 A14 dailybusinessreview.com MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2012 DAILY BUSINESS REVIEW FROM PAGE A13 COMPENSATION: Courts are ones raising rates of PIP lawyers “ I do hear from clients with some regularity they would like a different approach because to some of them they would rather have more certainty in their fees. For others it’s not as important. They want the hourly billing.” Dan Gelber Partner Gelber Schachter & Greenberg tablished his hourly rate of $650, but he said alternative fee arrangements are common. “We’re trying to have a little bit of flexibility,” Gelber said. He is a former state senator and Akerman Senterfitt partner who started the firm in early September with two former Stearns Weaver lawyers. “I do hear from clients with some regularity they would like a different approach because to some of them they would rather have more certainty in their fees. For others, it’s not as important. They want the hourly billing,” Gelber said. One client pays a monthly rate consisting of a blended rate for the firm’s work as a group, he said. Former Akerman Senterfitt environmental partner Michael Goldstein, who started the Goldstein Environmental Law Firm in January with two associates, uses flat rates. “Hourly rates can create an adversarial relationship with the client,” he said. Goldstein said his rack rate of $675 can apply if clients prefer hourly billing, but he said 90 percent of his clients want fixed fees because of the predictability of it, or so they can pay by the task. “My goal is to get to 95 percent” of fixed-rate clients. “We will do billable because some clients remain more comfortable with conventional rates,” he said. “I am a big proponent of fixed fees. I think more small and middle size firms will have to move toward this model to at the very least maintain market share. There are j. albert diaz Miami appellate lawyer Marlene Reiss had her rate bumped to $500 an hour from $475 by a judge. “Based on 22 years of experience, that’s the hourly rate the judges determined to be reasonable,” Reiss said. too many lawyers in the marketplace.” The survey found firms using other alternative rate structures to replace straight hourly fees. In the Palm Beach Finance bankruptcy case in West Palm Beach, Meland Russin Budwick represents the liquidating trustee for the estate and bills according to a hybrid rate structure. Meland Russin discounted standard rates by 25 percent. It meant a partner like Michael Budwick billed $424 an hour instead of his top rate of $565. But on top of the hourly fees, the law firm is entitled to a contingency bonus of 10 percent of assets recovered for the estate through litigation. Altonji said of all the alternative rate structures, the most popular form is fixed rates, but they are not yet onefifth of the market. “It is not taking over as fast as people had hoped, but five years ago was probably 5 to 7 percent of the market. Hybrid fees are much slower in terms of growth.”
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