Expenses from Weil, Gotshal & Manges are among the issues raised by the U.S. Trustee overseeing the case of bankrupt mortgage servicer Ditech Holding Corp., Bloomberg News reported. Lawyers and professionals from other firms have applied to collect more than $50 million in fees and expenses. Some of those applications show “questionable billing judgment” and lawyers appear to have “simply disregarded” established guidelines, a U.S. Trustee lawyer said. The U.S. Trustee said that Weil billed the estate about $18 million for work done from the bankruptcy filing in February to Sept. 30. Weil’s senior lawyers billed the estate at an hourly rate of $1,327, which is $116 higher than it charges non-bankruptcy clients, according to an objection filed on Thursday by the U.S. Trustee. A firm’s rates should not increase because the client files for bankruptcy, said the U.S. Trustee, a division of the U.S. Justice Department which oversees bankruptcy cases.
