On this week’s episode of Decibel and Docket, Mike and Dave discuss how much litigator Jeffrey Kessler of Winston Taylor made representing the state AGs in their antitrust case against Ticketmaster and Live Nation. Turns out the firm agreed to collect only half its fees in real time — meaning Kessler was effectively billing at about 45 percent of his normal rate as the trial unfolded. His standard hourly rate is $2,250. The states were paying roughly $1,013 of that. The rest — that other 55 percent — was carried by Winston as a deferred, at-risk investment. If the states lost, the firm ate those fees. Estimates are that could have been as much as $15 million, given the length of trial and the size of the team working the case. But if the states won? That's where it gets lucrative. Winston was entitled to a success fee equal to 15 percent of any damages or penalties recovered, capped at twice the value of its deferred fees. So if the firm had $15 million in unpaid time on the books, it could earn a success fee worth up to $30 million — bringing total potential compensation to more than $42 million.
Listen to the episode here https://open.spotify.com/episode/0gXhyMxMPQdGoNDLD61Oku?si=BAZ-Dyd7SqOKm-ACDGuHUQ