Market Center East Retail Property, Inc. v. Lurie (In re Market Center East Retail Property, Inc.)

Summarized by Neal Paul Donnelly , Soros Fund Management LLC
13 years 11 months ago

Citation:

BAP No. NM-11-017, Bankr. No. 09-11696, 2012 WL 699792 (B.A.P. 10th Cir. March 6, 2012)

Tag(s):

Ruling:

In determining the amount of fees to award a professional under § 330 of the Bankruptcy Code, courts are not limited to the “lodestar” approach (time spent multiplied by hourly rate). Rather they should, as the Code says, "tak[e] into account all relevant factors"--including the lodestar amount--and award "reasonable" fees.

Procedural context:

Chapter 11 debtor appealed bankruptcy court's order awarding fees in excess of lodestar amount to attorney retained by debtor in connection with a contract dispute.

Facts:

Prepetition, the Debtor hired an attorney to pursue a breach of contract action against a corporation that had backed out of purchasing the debtor's building. The attorney was to be paid his reduced hourly rate plus 15% of any settlement. Postpetition, the lawsuit settled for way more than either the debtor or the attorney had imagined it would. When the attorney filed his fee application in the bankruptcy case the Debtor objected, calling the attorney's fee request unreasonably high. The bankruptcy court overruled the objection. On appeal, the debtor argued that "bankruptcy judges awarding fees under § 330 of the Code must award fees solely upon" the lodestar calculation. To consider any other factors, the debtor said, would be reversible error. The B.A.P. disagreed. See "Ruling."

Judge(s):

MICHAEL, THURMAN, and KARLIN, Bankruptcy Judges

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