Bankruptcy Expert Professor Stephen Lubben Featured in WashPo on USA Gymnastics Case

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While Larry Nassar victims wait, lawyers cash in on USA Gymnastics bankruptcy

One year after USA Gymnastics filed for bankruptcy in the face of hundreds of lawsuits filed by girls and women sexually assaulted by former Olympic team physician Larry Nassar, the legal fight over the organization’s money has yet to produce a dollar for an abuse victim.

For the case’s lawyers, however, USA Gymnastics’ bankruptcy has been a lucrative endeavor, according to a review of court filings and interviews with experts, who said the $1,000-plus hourly rates charged by the case’s top attorneys rank as extremely high for a bankruptcy of this size involving sexual abuse victims.

Three lawyers have billed more than $600,000 individually in the first year of the case, according to a review of legal bills filed in court, part of more than $7 million in legal fees approved, by a judge, on a preliminary basis.

“In that universe, these hourly rates would be totally normal,” said Stephen Lubben, a professor at Seton Hall law school and an expert in corporate bankruptcies. “So I guess the question here is, if [the lawyers are] doing this as a charitable exercise . . . should they be acting more charitably?”

The rest of the article can be found via The Washington Post.