Law firm's bill submitted to bankruptcy judge

Lamberth, Cifelli, Stokes, and Stout, one of the law firms employed by O'Sullivan Industries to help the company work its way through Chapter 11 bankruptcy, submitted a bill for more than $50,000 to a bankruptcy judge...for two and a half weeks of work...according to documents filed Friday with the U. S. District Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
The bill includes 29.40 hours for partner James Cifelli at a rate of $350 a hour, the documents indicated. Another lawyer also charged that amount per hour, while a third charged $325 per hour. The billing was for everything from dealing with phone calls from creditors to sending out bankruptcy documents. Included in the $51,316.17 bill, which covers the period from Oct. 14-31, was more than $6,500 in expenses, including numerous Federal Express bills, mileage, and parking fees.
Of course, considerable research was done involving O'Sullivan Industries "assumption and assignment of intellectual property licenses," the documents said.
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Court documents were also filed asking for permission to pay the Wheaton, Ill., law firm of Norton, Mancini, Weiler & DeAno to defend O'Sullivan against a lawsuit filed by a customer who had a drawer from a piece of O'Sullivan furniture fall out and damage his foot. The company is asking for $125 an hour and says the amount will run approximately $800 per month.
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Another Friday filing asked for permission to employ auditor Bennett Thrasher of Atlanta at a rate of $240 an hour, and an estimated $25,000 a month for "consultations" concerning the company's 2002 state tax returns, and state and federal tax returns for 2003 and 2004, according to court documents.