a case study of legal overbilling allegations
DESCRIPTION
A case study of overbilling allegations: "Kevin Arquit has overall responsibility for all aspects of the matters." "Mr. Arquit and Mr Newborn have substantial antitrust experience, were co-leaders of Clifford Chance's antitrust group and were former officials with the FTC's antitrust enforcement program. A memorandum from Clifford Chance to Mylan dated May 12, 1999 states that "Kevin Arquit has overall responsibility for all aspects of the matters." "During the course of the Representation, Clifford Chance invoiced Mylan more than $19 million for legal services allegedly performed in conjunction with the Representation, the vast majority of which has been paid by Mylan." "No earlier than in 2002, Mylan became aware that Clifford Chance's invoices to Mylan in connection with the Representation contained excessive and unreasonable charges and other billing improprieties." "In addition, despite Mylan's repeated inquiries, Clifford Chance has been unable to produce to Mylan numerous memoranda that are identified on Clifford Chance's invoices. Associates at Clifford Chance have admitted that, in order to satisfy Clifford Chance's significant billing requirements, associates are encouraged to "pad" their time. Upon information and belief, Mylan believes that lawyers assigned to the Antitrust Litigation have provided false time entries and/or "padded" or overstated the amount of time they spent on tasks assigned to them." "Clifford Chance represented to Mylan that it had expertise in the fields of antitrust law and litigation, as well as experience with the FTC's antitrust enforcement program, and that it would provide legal services of the highest quality. As such, Clifford Chance had a legal duty to exercise the degree of learning and use the degree of care and skill ordinarily possessed by law firms providing specialized services in regulatory and private antitrust litigation." "Clifford Chance's failure to exercise reasonable care and professional competence in conducting the Representation constitutes malpractice. Additionally, Clifford Chance was negligent in charging excessive and unreasonable fees and expenses to Mylan and engaging in other billing improprieties."TRANSCRIPT
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