McDermott Will & Emery, a law firm representing Voyager’s committee of unsecured creditors, has charged the group $5.1 million for work undertaken between March and May.
This additional cost increases the total compensation paid to the group to $16.4 million, beyond the $11.2 million allocated as part of the restructuring process. So far, creditors have paid out $8.9 million of the billed compensation.
McDermott attorneys billed $1 million for 970.9 hours of work on plan and disclosure settlement, which included discussing sale options with the Debtors, meeting potential buyers, and examining objections presented by other stakeholders.
Prior fee periods saw extensive effort in this category on a potential sale of the company’s assets to FTX, a deal that fell through due to the exchange’s insolvency.
All of this comes on top of a $1.1 million charge paid to the law firm Kirkland & Ellis by Voyager, the debtor, for work done to represent the exchange (the debtors in this instance).
The 2022 market downturn resulted in numerous bankruptcies, which benefited law firms, with FTX and Celsius spending over $200 million and $50 million, respectively, on legal fees.However, critics contend that the high costs and lengthy legal processes diminish the amount of money accessible to creditors as more of it is spent on legal fees.