
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 5, 1991                   TAG: 9104050679
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/2   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Short

GOVERNMENT LAW FEES MAY HIT $600 AN HOUR

A New York law firm will charge the federal government up to $600 an hour for its services recouping money from the nation's failed savings and loan associations, a newspaper reported today.

Cravath, Swaine & Moore has signed a contract with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. under which the firm's hourly rate will increase with the amount of money it recoups for taxpayers, The New York Times reported.

The firm's senior lawyers are guaranteed a minimum $300 an hour. If the firm manages to get more than $200 million for the government, the rate jumps to $600 an hour, the newspaper reported.

Senior lawyers at the firm typically charge $375 to $400 an hour, The Times said.

The FDIC asked the Wall Street law firm to help it recoup some of the billions of dollars lost by the failed S&Ls. Since the bailout began, the FDIC has become the nation's largest employer of lawyers.

Cravath will concentrate on Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. and its former senior executives, including junk-bond king Michael Milken, The Times said.

The contract was criticized by some lawmakers who said it will only add to the already high cost of the savings and loan bailout, the newspaper said.

- Associated Press

by CNB