McDermott Will & Emery, a law firm representing Voyager’s committee of unsecured creditors, has billed the group $5.1 million for the work it completed from March to May.
This latest bill brings the total compensation charged to the group to $16.4 million, above the $11.2 million that was budgeted as part of the restructuring process. So far, the creditors have paid out $8.9 million of this billed compensation.
Some of the largest areas of billings from McDermott attorneys for the period include $1 million billed for 970.9 hours of work on plan and disclosure settlement, which involves discussing sale options with the Debtors and meeting potential buyers and examining objections presented by other stakeholders.
In prior fee periods, significant work in this category was done on a potential sale of the company’s assets to FTX, a deal that collapsed with the bankruptcy of the exchange.
All of this comes on top of a $1.1 million bill Voyager, the debtor, paid to the law firm Kirkland & Ellis for work it’s done to represent the exchange (the debtors in this case).
The 2022 market downturn led to many bankruptcies, which have been profitable for law firms, with firms like FTX and Celsius spending over $200 million and $50 million, respectively, on legal fees.
However, critics argue that these high costs and long legal processes reduce the amount of money available for creditors as more and more of it is spent on legal fees.