Feds Will Pay Some of the Legal Fees of the Ted Stevens Trial Prosecutors

Washington—

The Department of Justice will pay some legal fees of the Ted Stevens prosecutors now under scrutiny—but those payments look likely to cover only a fraction of the bills to be charged by the high-priced counsel now on the case.

Both Legal Times and TPMMuckraker.com have reported that the Department of Justice has stated that the federal government will pay the legal bills of what some call “the Stevens Six”—but only up to $200 per hour for a maximum of 120 billable hours per month.

That may sound like a lot to you—but if it does, you don’t know much about what lawyers charge at the big Washington, D.C. firms. Partners routinely charge more than $500 per hour, and—as Legal Times points out—first-year associates right out of law school charge more than $200 per hour.

To see the Legal Times article—which contains details on the attorneys retained by the prosecutors under investigation—go to http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2009/04/stevens-six-lawyering-up-big-time.html on the Internet.