How much does Hunter Biden's lawyer charge?

By David Thomas and Mike Scarcella

June 26 (Reuters) - (Billable Hours is Reuters' weekly report on lawyers and money. Please send tips or suggestions to D.Thomas@thomsonreuters.com)

Court documents filed last week shed light on what Hunter Biden, the son of former U.S. President Joe Biden, was charged per hour by lawyers at Winston & Strawn to defend him from federal gun and tax crime charges.

Biden's lawyer Abbe Lowell billed $1,510 an hour for his services, according to a December 2022 contract that was disclosed on Friday as part of a lawsuit Winston filed against Biden in D.C. Superior Court. The billing document said other Winston partners at that time charged an hourly rate ranging from $890 to $1,945. The firm alleged that Biden owes more than $50,000 in unpaid legal fees.

"Despite repeated requests for payment, Mr. Biden has failed to pay W&S for the outstanding amount due," the firm said in its lawsuit. A spokesperson for Winston did not respond to a request for comment.

Hunter Biden could not be reached for comment.

Lowell, who left Winston to open his own law firm last month, did not respond to a request for comment, including questions on how much he is charging per hour. His past clients have included former U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.

Lowell's hourly rate referenced in Biden's contract, by comparison, is lower than the $1,980 per hour rate that Jeffrey Kessler, co-executive of Winston, charged for his work helping negotiate a landmark $2.8 billion settlement with the National Collegiate Athletic Association over compensation for student-athletes.

Lowell's representation of Biden spanned from criminal trials in Wilmington, Delaware, to the halls of Congress. Biden was found guilty of making false statements on a gun background check and of illegally possessing a firearm in June 2024. Biden also pleaded guilty to failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes while spending lavishly on drugs, sex workers and luxury items.

President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter in December, before he left office.

-- Jackson Walker and the U.S. Justice Department's bankruptcy watchdog have been in mediation over the latter's demand that the law firm disgorge millions of dollars in legal fees that were awarded by former U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Jones, who was in a romantic relationship with one of Jackson Walker's partners.

Jackson Walker and the U.S. Trustee are poised to inform U.S. District Judge Alia Moses about the status of their mediation effort by July 1. So far, the two sides have met three times before retired bankruptcy judge Joan Feeney.

Spokespersons for Jackson Walker and the U.S. Trustee declined to comment.

Feeney, who retired from the bankruptcy bench in Massachusetts after 26 years and is now an arbitrator and mediator at JAMS, declined to comment through a spokesperson.

The U.S. Trustee has opposed Jackson Walker's efforts to reach settlements with three of its former bankruptcy clients, in which the firm would return $1.5 million to those clients. The U.S. Trustee has argued that those settlements are an "end-run" around the bankruptcy rules and "short circuit" its mission to "to restore and maintain integrity in the bankruptcy system."

Jones was once the busiest bankruptcy judge in the U.S. and presided over the bankruptcies of JCPenney, Neiman Marcus, Party City and Chesapeake Energy, among many others.

Jones resigned from the bench in October 2023 after admitting to sharing a home with Elizabeth Freeman, who was a bankruptcy partner at Jackson Walker until December 2022. Lawyers for Jones did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A lawyer for Freeman declined to comment.

-- A Dallas federal judge's preliminary approval of a $177 million settlement resolving data-breach claims against AT&T last week tees up class attorneys to seek up to $58.9 million of those funds as their legal fee.

Two sets of firms will seek their own fees based on the scope of the breaches AT&T disclosed in May and July last year. Some of the firms poised to seek attorney fees are The Lanier Law Firm, Seeger Weiss, Carella, Byrne, Cecchi, Brody & Agnello and Morgan & Morgan.

"We will at the right time make a request for fees that are commensurate with the work done and necessary for the future, the success of the work, as well as the risk and investment," said Mark Lanier of The Lanier Law Firm.

U.S. District Judge Ada Brown last week preliminarily approved the settlement over the breaches, which exposed personal information of tens of millions of the telecom giant's customers.

AT&T denied any wrongdoing in agreeing to settle the consumer claims. Brown said she would hold a final hearing on the settlement in December.

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