Judge denies ‘exorbitant’ request for nearly $1M in attorney fees after $125K recovery

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BY DEBRA CASSENS WEISS 

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A federal judge in Pennsylvania has denied a request for nearly $1 million in attorney fees and promised to refer the lawyers who sought the money to ethics regulators.

U.S. District Judge Malachy Mannion of Scranton deemed the fee request “astounding,” “exorbitant” and “woefully deficient.” He criticized claims for various portions of work as “abusively excessive” and “mind-boggling.” Some entries were redundant and some were vague, he said. The Legal Intelligencer (sub. req.), the Scranton Times-Tribune and the Associated Presshave stories; Mannion’s Aug. 29 opinion is here.

“As other courts have noted,” Mannion said, quoting from another opinion, “a fee request is not the opening salvo in a back and forth negotiation with the court. The request is not the sticker price on a used car that all…