key Takeaways:
- The legal and advisory firms helping FTX through its bankruptcy procedures anticipate making a total of $103 million during Q1.
- New York-based Sullivan & Cromwell has billed the largest fee and expense invoice of $14.1 million for March.
Five legal and consulting firms, including Sullivan & Cromwell, Alvarez & Marshal, AlixPartners, Quinn Emmanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, and Landis Rath & Cobb, charged the bankrupt cryptocurrency trading platform FTX a total of $36.4 million in March, according to court filings.
For their services, which include examining the extent and type of customer claims and organizing extensive business records, the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange is required to pay $145 million.
The March billing totals were somewhat higher than the $34.2 million and $32.5 million, respectively, of January and February.
The largest payment was to the New York-based law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, which added $14.1 million in fees and expenditures for March to a total of $44.4 million for the first quarter.
Over 99% of the total was spent on the 43 lawyers who charge an hourly rate of $2,165. Other costs included printing, messenger service, transcripts, filing fees, work meals, overtime, and weekend travel.
For the time period between November 11 and March 31, Alvarez & Marsal requested $53.1 million in fees and expenses totaling $1.4 million. The costs were broken down into the following categories: license fees, housing, travel, meals, and transportation.
Landis Rath & Cobb, based in Wilmington, Delaware, requested $3 million in fees. Additionally, it requested payment for costs totaling $51,864 for five months, such as teleconferencing support and overnight delivery.
AlixPartners, a forensics consulting company, invoiced its largest charge in March for $4.51 million, reaching $10.2 million for the quarter, for the company’s efforts in examining tokens and decentralized finance products in FTX’s possession.
FTX has had a very difficult six months, but it almost seems like the trouble is never-ending.
Another twist in the FTX saga has emerged, with The Moskowitz Law Firm obtaining approval from a Florida district court judge to serve legal notice on cryptocurrency YouTuber Tom Nash through a tweet.
This followed lawyers’ claims that they couldn’t assist him in any other way. As a result, the court issued an order permitting the company to deliver the lawsuit via Twitter on May 2.
