Didn’t See It Coming

  • Law

  • As some of you already started discussing in the comments yesterday, Jacob Houmand is seeking nearly $316,000 in fees and costs for work on the Robert Graham case. It’s a tricky situation asking for fees in this case–especially with the extra scrutiny about every billing entry. What do you think? [RJ]
  • In not so shocking news, landlords are not big fans of giving tenants more notice before eviction. [TNI; Nevada Current
  • Also not a surprise, an associate of Tony Hsieh files $93 million in creditor claims against his estate. [RJ; 8NewsNow]
  • An indictment accuses attorney Bradley Bellisario of stalking his estranged wife. [RJ]
  • Not Nevada, but lawyer refuses to leave firm after partnership votes him out. [ABA Journal]
18 Comments
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
March 5, 2021 6:00 pm

Campbell and Williams posted a job. Does anyone know ball park what they pay for entry level positions?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
March 5, 2021 9:54 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

$250K plus bonus based on billables and performance.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
March 5, 2021 6:16 pm

So Houmand should work for free? I'm so sick of clients not paying it may drive me out of the practice. So many people think we should work for free. Who gonna pay my bills man? Over it

Anonymous
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Anonymous
March 5, 2021 6:19 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

It's this billable hour crap. Yes, if you look at entry by entry, it seems silly to be paying him for researching some of this stuff, but the reality is most lawyers, especially in a civil context, need to do research each time. Can you imagine if we just filed using our existing knowledge and never kept up on the changes, etc.

That said, it seems like these fees are high in the context of the case. Sure, they're over 4-5 years, but the optics are not in his favor.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
March 5, 2021 6:30 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Reminds me of this handout from my early associate days.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
March 5, 2021 7:29 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

The optics are bad because this is 3 years of work on an intricate financial fraud case. Ryan Anderson took a flyer on a contingency fee and got killed on an average hourly basis according to the article. No one would be Trustee's counsel on a pure contingency fee. Trustee's special collections counsel on a case by case basis sure. But this is what BK cases look like. The person to beat up is NOT Houmand. It is Shelly Krohn who has a fiduciary duty to NOT have her counsel look under stones that are not likely to yield gold. Go after the Trustee.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
March 5, 2021 8:45 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

10:19 AM. I practice in a niche area. The other day, I had a procedural issue come up within my practices unique procedural rules. The issue is addressed by a frequently used rule. Even after years of practice, my memory was that the rule read one way, but because I checked it AGAIN, I realized my memory was distorted in a meaningful way as to this particular situation. The idea that an attorney should would from memory is silly, especially in the context of a unique and complicated case.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
March 6, 2021 9:05 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Imagine if a law firm did act as trustees counsel on contingency (a huge, obviously FOOLISH risk!) AND then found $10M stashed somewhere. You can bet there would be howls of injustice about that law firm collecting $4M before any payments are made to victims. This is a lose-lose scenario. This is a cautionary tale about taking on a high profile case of this nature. The best move here is to just decline, decline, decline.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
March 5, 2021 6:16 pm

Oh FFS – housing justice organizers?! "Housing is a human right. Not a business."

More communists on parade.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
March 5, 2021 7:30 pm

Since when is the Brent Bryson the go to probate guy (or a probate guy at all)?

Who in the world is Bradley Bellisario?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
March 5, 2021 7:37 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

A Boyd '14 grad. Cool guy with a crazy ex-wife.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
March 5, 2021 8:10 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I'm a probate lawyer. I have had *a* probate case against Brent. I really liked the guy and hope that I run into him on a case again someday. In my experience, Brent is empathetic, pragmatic and honest. And that's why I have sent him criminal referrals and will continue to do so.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
March 6, 2021 1:21 am
Reply to  Anonymous

A typical Boyd 2014 genius

Anonymous
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Anonymous
March 6, 2021 12:51 am

Can I get a referral for someone I know that needs to go through the state-run mortgage modification mediation program?

I know of some attorneys that do this but hopefully need someone that can do good work.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
March 8, 2021 5:10 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Cam-Tu Dang at PandA.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
March 11, 2021 12:32 am
Reply to  Anonymous

Xenophon Peters @ PandA

Anonymous
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Anonymous
March 6, 2021 4:37 am

No shot for me.

Ben Nadig
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Ben Nadig
March 8, 2021 9:37 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I literally hope you die a slow, painful death. The ignorant nonsense you pass off with a sheen of complicated verbiage is rife with logical fallacies and absolute misinformation. We are all dumber for having listened to you. I award you no points and may god have mercy on your soul.