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In the three months concluding on Oct. 31, the now-defunct crypto exchange FTX has been expending around $53,000 each hour on legal and advisory services related to its bankruptcy, as indicated by the latest compensation filings.
Documents submitted to the court from Dec. 5 to Dec. 16 reveal that bankruptcy attorneys have billed at least $118.1 million from Aug. 1 to Oct. 31. This totals approximately $1.3 million daily or $53,300 hourly over the span of 92 days.
The highest invoice was from the management consulting firm Alvarez and Marshall, which billed $35.8 million for its services during the three-month period.
Alvarez and Marshall invoiced a total of $35.8 million to the FTX estate. Source: CourtListener
Following closely was the global law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, which charged $31.8 million for its services. The average hourly rate for Sullivan & Cromwell’s services was $1,230.
Sullivan and Cromwell’s services incurred a cost of $1,230 per hour for FTX creditors. Source: CourtListener
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The global consulting firm AlixPartners billed $13.3 million during this timeframe for professional services related to forensic investigations. Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan charged $10.4 million in the same period, while various other charges from smaller advisory firms totaled over $26.8 million.
Information shared by a pseudonymous FTX creditor in a Dec. 17 post on X (formerly Twitter) indicates that the total legal fees fully paid since the initiation of the FTX bankruptcy case is around $350 million.
Related: FTX debtors evaluate the value of crypto claims based on market prices at the time of petition
Additionally, an earlier report submitted on Dec. 5 by the court-appointed fee examiner, Katherine Stadler, highlighted “significant areas of concern” regarding the billings presented by larger advisory firms, including Sullivan & Cromwell, Alvarez & Marshall, and others between May 1 and June 31.
“The Fee Examiner noted seemingly top-heavy staffing, apparently excessive attendance at meetings, fees associated with non-working travel time, and various technical and procedural issues concerning some time entries (including vague and aggregated entries),” the report states regarding the billings from Alvarez & Marshall.
Advisory firms faced criticism for over-billing from the case’s Fee Examiner. Source: CourtListener
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