A Southern District magistrate judge has recommended that an insurer pay $8.8 million in legal fees and potentially as much as $4 million in interest incurred by a company defending asbestos claims around the country.
In approving billing rates for 14 law firms, including Sidley Austin, DLA Piper and Nixon Peabody, Magistrate Judge James Francis (See Profile) in Danaher v. Travelers, 10-cv-0121, said that a reasonable fee must be based on a reasonable hourly rate. “It need not be the lowest possible rate, but, rather, must merely fall within a range of reasonableness,” Francis said.
