We already knew MGA Entertainment had run up an immense legal tab defending itself against copyright claims and winning a trade secrets trial against toymaker Mattel over the once-ubiquitous Bratz dolls. Now we know the full, staggering figure. All told, according to a ruling issued Friday in litigation against MGA’s insurers, the company spent about $175 million in fees and costs on a parade of lawyers, mainly from Skadden, Arps, Meagher, Slate & Flom, O’Melveny & Myers, and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. Skadden, meanwhile, appears to be at odds with MGA over a deal that would cap its fees in the Mattel litigation at just $11 million.
In a 59-page decision, Santa Ana, Ca. federal district judge David Carter ruled that MGA’s chief insurance providers, Evanston Insurance Company and parent companies Markel Corporation and Markel Underwriting Managers, could not reduce their obligation to cover a share of about $95 million of MGA’s legal bills. Judge Carter, who confirmed in a January ruling that MGA’s insurers were on the hook for the company’s litigation fees and costs, also concluded that Evanston was obligated to cover nearly $9.5 million in fees that MGA never actually paid its lawyers because of negotiated discounts.
