FTX advisors billed the bankrupt firm for a whopping $103M in Q1

FTX advisors billed the bankrupt firm for a whopping 3M in Q1

After Sullivan & Cromwell, Consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal billed the second largest invoice for its finance and accounting work.

The lawyers and consulting firms assisting cryptocurrency exchange FTX through its bankruptcy proceedings are set to cash in a total of $103 million over the first quarter.

March saw five firms — Sullivan & Cromwell, Alvarez & Marshal, AlixPartners, Quinn Emmanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Landis Rath & Cobb — bill FTX a combined $36.4 million according to several court filings between April 28 and May 2.

The invoices from March were slightly higher than January and February’s figures of $34.2 million and $32.5 million respectively.

New York-based law firm Sullivan & Cromwell again walked away with the biggest paycheck, billing $14.1 million in fees and expenses for March, adding to a total of $44.4 million over the first quarter.

*Sullivan & Cromwell billed FTX $14.1 million for March. Source: Kroll*

Partners at the firm took home $2,165 per hour while paralegals and legal analysts were paid $425 and $595 per hour for their contributions.

Consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal came in next, invoicing over $13.8 million in March for the tens of thousands of hours it collectively committed to avoidance actions, financial analysis and accounting procedures.

It was the third successive billing of over $10 million for the firm, which has served as FTX’s restructuring advisor since Sam Bankman-Fried’s former empire filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11.

*Alvarez & Marsal invoiced FTX $13.8 million for March. Source: Kroll*

Fellow law firms Quinn Emmanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Landis Rath & Cobb respectively billed FTX $3.19 million and $644,000 in March for respective totals of $7.3 million and $1.9 million over the first quarter.

As Landis Rath & Cobb serve as FTX’s special counsel, the firm has spent most of its hours in the courtroom attending court hearings and undergoing litigation procedures.

Over 180 lawyers from Sullivan & Cromwell, Quinn Emmanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Landis Rath & Cobb have been assigned to work on the FTX case.

Forensics consulting firm AlixPartners invoiced its largest bill at $4.51 million in March, totaling $10.2 million over the quarter for the firm’s work in analyzing decentralized finance products and tokens in FTX’s possession.

Despite a severely troubled six months, FTX hasn’t put the nail in the coffin yet.

With $7.3 billion in assets recovered FTX’s legal team is eyeing a potential reboot of the trading platform as early as April 2024.

Magazine: Unstablecoins: Depegging, bank runs and other risks loom

Lawyers’ picnic: FTX counsel and advisers rake in M in January

accounting

Millions have been invoiced from a host of law firms, investment bankers, consultants and financial advisers in FTX’s bankruptcy case.

The law firms, investment banks and consulting companies working with FTX on its bankruptcy case billed the crypto exchange a combined $34.18 million in January, court documents reveal.

FTX’s chief restructuring officer and new CEO, John J. Ray III, also received a hefty pay package, charging $1,300 an hour to a total of $305,000 in February according to a March 6 filing.

*Fee breakdown of FTX CEO John J. Ray III over the month of February. Source:* *Kroll*

Separate court filings on March 6 show United States law firms Sullivan & Cromwell, Quinn Emmanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Landis Rath & Cobb invoiced $16.9 million, $1.44 million and $684,000, respectively, for their services and expenses in January.

Lawyers and staff of Sullivan & Cromwell billed a total of 14,569 hours for their work, which equates to over 600 days. Some partners received up to $2,165 per hour, while the firm’s paralegals and legal analysts were being billed out at $425 to $595 per hour.

The highest-priced billables were discovery ($3.5 million), asset disposition ($2.2 million) and general investigation work ($2 million).

*Sullivan & Cromwell’s fee statement as counsel to FTX Trading for the month of January. Source:* *Kroll*

It submitted another hefty $7.5 million bill to FTX for the first 19 days of February.

Ray played a crucial role in keeping Sullivan & Cromwell on board as legal counsel, having filed a court motion on Jan. 17 arguing that the white-shoe law firm had been integral in taking control over the “dumpster fire” that was handed to him.

His filing came in response to an objection to the retention of the law firm on Jan. 14 by U.S. Trustee Andrew Vara, who claimed that Sullivan & Cromwell had failed to sufficiently disclose its connections and prior work for FTX.

FTX special counsel Landis Rath & Cobb spent much of its working hours attending court hearings and litigation procedures. For its efforts, the firm billed the FTX administrators $684,000, including expenses.

Between the three law firms, over 180 lawyers and over 50 non-lawyer staff worked on the case, most of who came from Sullivan & Cromwell.

Forensics consulting firm AlixPartners billed $2.1 million for January. Almost half of the firm’s hours were spent on forensic analysis of decentralized finance products and tokens in FTX’s possession.

Consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal invoiced for $12.5 million for over 17,100 hours it committed to avoidance actions, financial analysis and accounting procedures.

*A breakdown of Alvarez & Marsal’s monthly fee statement by project, hours and fees for the month of January: Source:* *Kroll*

Investment bank Perella Weinberg Partners billed a monthly service fee of $450,000 plus more than $50,000 in expenses for planning a restructuring strategy and engaging in correspondence with third parties.

With FTX’s trial set for October, there are at least another six months of legal work to do for the law firms involved. Recent reports have estimated that the fees could reach in the hundreds of millions by the time the case is over, which could potentially rival the $440 million in fees that New York-based law firm Weil Gotshal made from the infamous Lehman Brothers bankruptcy in 2008.

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