Biglaw

Federal Investigators Are Seeking Biglaw Bills As Part Of Probe

Yeah, Biglaw bills are usually a lot more detailed than that.

By
on

The city of Atlanta’s contracting process has been under scrutiny for a while. In fact, it’s been the subject of a widespread federal investigation that has netted five pleas and an additional two indictments. Now the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting that the investigation has a new line of inquiry, and exactly how the Biglaw firm of Paul Hastings got paid is a big part of it.

According to reports, federal prosecutors are seeking documents related to work Paul Hastings has done on behalf of the city. The probe is also looking at what if any financial relationship exists between former Atlanta City Attorney Cathy Hampton and the Biglaw firm. As it turns out four of the firm’s invoices were flat rates with only a “legal research” notation. Oh, and the firm’s engagement letter — a requirement under Atlanta guidelines — can’t be found:

Four of the bills sought by prosecutors were $25,000 flat-rate invoices for work described only as “Legal Research” invoices. Experts told the AJC the invoices raised questions partly because the city could not produce an agreement, known as an engagement letter, that details the scope of the work to be executed by private attorneys, a requirement under city guidelines.

Those aren’t the only vague invoices at issue. As the AJC reports:

In an arrangement legal experts called unusual, the city paid the firm $2.2 million for vague, unspecified legal work described in invoices as “litigation consultation” and “legal research.”Two of the invoices from 2017 sought by prosecutors contain payments totaling $100,000 for “outside professional services.” The invoices don’t identify who the firm hired or the nature of the services, a lack of specificity that is odd for a large international law firm, according to Peter Henning, a law professor at Wayne State University in Detroit.
“It always comes back to the old Watergate line: Follow the money,” said Henning, who specializes in white collar criminal cases. “You need to find out where did the funding come from and was it properly approved. If it wasn’t, there are a variety of federal statutes that could have been violated.”

Yeah, Biglaw bills are usually a lot more detailed than that.

And that isn’t the only investigation Paul Hastings’ bills to the city of Atlanta has spurred. The Federal Aviation Administration is also looking into whether airport revenue was used to pay legal fees. FAA rules prohibit the use of airport revenue for anything but operations and capital expenses. The FAA has launched an audit of seven years worth of Atlanta airport financial records, and millions of dollars of federal grant money for the airport could be on the line.

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