Legal News

Reporter's Notebook: More Billable Rate Info for Philly Firms' PHA Work

By Brian Harris

By Gina Passarella
Of the Legal Staff

The firms mentioned in the article in today's Legal titled "Attorneys Forced to Defend PHA Billing, Staffing Practices" were just a few of the many that did work for the Philadelphia Housing Authority since 2005.

Below is a list of those other firms and the rates they charged for a variety of legal work. All contracts have a two-year base period and allow for three additional one-year option periods, totaling a maximum of five years. The ranges provided are the rates the firm agreed to for the two-year base period through the third one-year option period.

- Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis: The firm was awarded two contracts: one for general legal services in April 2007 for a possible total of $7.5 million, and one for regulatory and administrative work in December 2005 for a max of $5 million. Under the 2007 contract, the firm charged the same amount for senior partners, partners and associates over the life of the contract. That range was between $310 and $335. Paralegals made between $125 and $140 an hour over the life of the contract.

Under the 2005 contract, the firm charged between $375 and $435 an hour for partners, between $225 and $275 for associates, and a blended rate of between $295 and $320 an hour. Paralegals billed between $125 and $140.

- Blank Rome: The firm was awarded a regulatory and administrative contract in December 2005 for a possible total of $5 million. It charged between $340 and $400 for partners, $295 and $355 for associates and a blended rate of between $325 and $385. Paralegals billed between $150 and $210 an hour.

- Hangley Aronchick Segal &Pudlin: The firm was awarded four contracts since 2005 for a total possible amount of $18.25 million. For the regulatory and administrative, labor and employment and one of the general legal services contracts, the firm provided a blended hourly rate of $285 to $330 an hour over the life of the contracts. All three contracts were signed in 2005.

The general legal services contract the firm signed in 2007 provided rates between $300 and $345 equally for senior partners, partners and associates. Paralegals made between $145 and $175 an hour.

- Wolf Block: The firm was awarded five contracts for a total possible award over their lifespan of $25.2 million. The general legal services contract signed in 2005 provided partner rates ranging from $270 through $315 and broke that down depending on whether the partner was consulting or attending hearings. Associates charged between $240 and $285. The firm offered a blended rate of between $250 and $295.

The 2005 regulatory contract had partners charging between $240 and $280, associates charging between $175 and $210 and a blended rate of $215 to $245. The 2005 labor and employment contract provided blended rates of between $220 and $260, and a $400,000 title review contract signed in 2005 was based on a blended rate of between $260 and $280 over the life of the contract.

The firm's 2007 general legal services contract had senior partners charging between $320 and$340, partners between $285 and $305, and associates between $235 and $260.

- Cozen O'Connor: The firm was awarded a general legal services contract in 2007 for a maximum of $5 million and also took over the contract of Klett Rooney Lieber & Schorling when some of those partners joined Cozen O'Connor in 2006.

Under the general legal services contract, the firm charged between $275 and $325 for senior partners, between $250 and $300 for partners, between $215 and $275 for associates, and between $75 and $90 for paralegals. The Klett Rooney work for "ongoing legal matters" that was transferred to Cozen O'Connor was done at a rate of between $250 and $285 for senior attorneys, and between $175 and $225 for junior attorneys. Those were the rates negotiated by Klett Rooney.

- Kolber & Freiman: The firm handled labor and employment work under a $550,000 contract in July 2005 for blended rates of between $200 and $230. That was the same range that senior partners made over the life of a $2.5 million general legal services contract the firm signed in May 2007. Partners working under that contract made between $185 and $215 and associates billed between $175 and $205.

- Kelly Monaco & Naples:  The firm was awarded three contracts worth a potential $5.4 million.
For the 2007 general legal services contract, it charged between $225 and $275 for partners, between $200 and $250 for associates, and between $175 and $225 for paralegals.

Under the 2006 regulatory and administrative contract, the firm charged a blended rate of $185 to $215 and provided breakdowns for partners and associates separately. Attorneys on the $400,000 title review contract charged between $200 and $225.

- Greenberg Traurig: The firm was awarded a $2.5 million regulatory and administrative contract in 2005. It charged $250 for partners for the entire contract period, $225 for associates,  a blended rate of $238, and $90 for paralegals.

- Cohen & Grigsby: The firm worked with minority-owned firms Harvey C. Johnson P.C. and the Law Offices of Denise Smyler. In a $2.5 million general legal services contract signed with Denise Smyler, the firm charged between $290 and $320 for senior partners, between $240 and $270 for partners, and between $180 and $210 for associates.

Smyler agreed to charge under that contract the partner and associate rates charged by Cohen & Grigsby. Under her own $2.5 million contract with PHA for general legal services, Smyler charged between $200 and $215 for senior attorneys, $180 to $190 for partners, and $170 to $180 for associates.

Gina Passarella is the senior reporter for The Legal. She can be contacted at GPassarella@alm.com.  Reporter Amaris Elliott-Engel also contributed to this piece.

Full post as published by The Legal Intelligencer Blog on March 21, 2011 (boomark / email).