Hourly Burn Rate: $53,000 on Bankruptcy Fees
In the three months ending Oct. 31, defunct crypto exchange FTX has been burning through approximately $53,000 every hour on bankruptcy lawyers and advisers, the latest round of compensation filings show.
Staggering $118 Million in Legal Fees
Court filings from Dec. 5 to Dec. 16 show that the bankruptcy lawyers have charged at least $118.1 million between Aug. 1 and Oct. 31. Over the 92 days, this amounts to $1.3 million per day or $53,300 per hour.
Top Billing Firms in FTX’s Case
The largest bill came from the management consulting firm Alvarez and Marshall, which charged $35.8 million for its services for the three months.
Coming in second place was global law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, which charged $31.8 million for its services. The hourly rate for Sullivan & Cromwell’s services averaged $1,230 per hour.
Other Significant Charges
Global consulting firm AlixPartners charged $13.3 million in the period for professional services relating to forensic investigations. Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan charged $10.4 million in the same period, while several other billings from smaller advisory firms added up to over $26.8 million.
A Creditor’s Perspective
Figures shared by a pseudonymous FTX creditor in a Dec. 17 post on X (formerly Twitter) suggest the total legal fees that have been fully paid since the FTX bankruptcy case began is approximately $350 million.
Fee Examiner’s Concerns
Meanwhile, an earlier report filed on Dec. 5 by the court-appointed fee examiner, Katherine Stadler, identified “significant areas of concern” with the billings submitted by the larger advisory firms, including Sullivan & Cromwell, Alvarez & Marshall and others between May 1 and June 31.
“The Fee Examiner identified apparently top-heavy staffing, apparently excessive meeting attendance, fees related to non-working travel time, and various technical and procedural deficiencies with respect to some time entries (including vague and lumped entries),” states the report regarding the billings submitted by Alvarez & Marshall.
