Bruce R. Meckler
Bruce R. Meckler (CLICK HERE FOR CV)
Meckler, Bulger, Tilson, Marick & Pearson, LLP
Chicago, IL
(312) 474-7870
bruce.meckler@mbtlaw.com
www.mbtlaw.com
Bruce Meckler’s Trial Expert Experience on Reasonable Attorney Fees:
Testified (deposition) as expert witness in environmental and personal injury litigation filed in the U.S. Virgin Islands captioned Alumina v. Zurich Insurance Company, Civ. No. 1996/0172, in the United States District Court for the Virgin Islands, regarding the reasonableness of legal fees and expenses of incurred in defense of VIALCO.
Testified (deposition) as expert witness in Federal Pacific Electric Company v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Company, Civil Action No. 96-11289-RGS, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, regarding the reasonableness of legal fees.
Testified (deposition) as expert witness in American Medical Systems, Inc. v. National Union Fire Insurance Company, Civil Action No. 98-1788, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, regarding the reasonableness and allocation of legal fees and expenses incurred in defense of AMS.
Testified (trial) as expert witness in Joseph T. Ryerson & Son, Inc. v. National Union Fire Insurance Company, Civil Action No. 98-CV-6739, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, regarding the reasonableness of legal fees and expenses incurred in defense of Thypin Steel Company.
Testified (deposition and trial) as expert witness in Zurich Insurance Company v. Metrolink, Superior Court of California, Ventura County, regarding the allocation of covered versus non-covered legal fees and expenses.
Testified (deposition and trial) as an expert witness in Pacific Rim Assurance Company v. Michael A. Dolan and Associates, Case No. LC 031462, in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles.
Testified (deposition and trial) as an expert witness in Bublitz v. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Civil No. 4-00-CV-9024, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, regarding the reasonableness of legal fees and expenses incurred by plaintiffs' class action counsel.
Testified (deposition) as an expert witness in the case International Business Machines Corp. v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Case No. 00-Civ-5454, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, concerning issues of allocation and reasonableness of legal fees and expenses incurred in defense of IBM.
Testified (deposition) as an expert witness in the case Westendorf v. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Civil No. 4-01-CV-90098, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, regarding the reasonableness of legal fees and expenses incurred by plaintiff's counsel in an ERISA action.
Testified (deposition and trial) as an expert witness in the case Illinois School District Agency v. Martin Boyer Company, Inc., No. 99 L 0545, in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, concerning the reasonableness of legal fees in defense of litigation against the Illinois School District Agency.
Testified (deposition and trial) as an expert witness in the case Nucor v. Employers Commercial Union Insurance Company, Case No. CV 1997-008308, in the Superior Court of Maricopa County for the State of Arizona, concerning the reasonableness of legal fess incurred by the Nucor Corporation in the defense of environmental litigation.
Testified (arbitration) as an expert witness in the case ISN v. Loevener concerning the reasonableness and allocation of legal fees incurred in connection with an employment dispute between Loevener and ISN, as awarded as a prevailing party under Florida law.
Testified (deposition) as an expert witness in the case Jones Day v. Orthodontic Centers of America, Inc., CAF No. l:04-CV-3304-JOF, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, concerning the reasonableness and allocation of legal fees incurred in defense of multi-state commercial contract litigation.
Testified (deposition) as an expert witness in the case United Fire & Casualty Co. v. Deere & Co., Case No. 101997, in the Iowa District Court for Scott County, concerning the reasonableness of legal fees incurred in defense of Deere & Co.
Testified (deposition and arbitration) as an expert witness in the case Federal Insurance Company v. EPS Solutions Corporation, concerning the reasonableness and allocation of legal fees incurred in the defense of certain directors and officers in lawsuits alleging misrepresentation and fraud in the creation of EPS Solutions Corporation.
Testified (deposition and trial) as an expert witness in the case Abercrombie & Fitch Co. v. Federal Insurance Company concerning the reasonableness of litigation management guidelines and the legal fee review process utilized in connection with legal costs incurred to defend Abercrombie & Fitch in several putative shareholder class action lawsuits.
Testified (deposition) as an expert witness in the case Star Tribune Company v. National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, P A concerning the reasonableness of legal fees incurred in defense of litigation involving claims of breach of non-competition and confidentiality agreements and violations of the Minnesota Uniform Trade Secrets Act.
Testified (by sworn statement) regarding the reasonableness of legal fees and expenses incurred by Freeborn & Peters LLP, counsel for Brown & Brown, Inc., in Brown & Brown, Inc. v. M. Munawar Ali, Case No. 07 C 2893 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. In rendering its decision on the reasonableness of the legal fees incurred, the Court substantially adopted my opinions.
Testified (by sworn statement) regarding reasonableness of approximately $1 million in attorney fees and expenses primarily incurred by Holiday Hospitality Franchising, Inc.’s outside counsel, Hunton & Williams, LLP as well as its in-house counsel in Lake Wright Hospitality, LLC v. Holiday Hospitality Franchising, Inc., Civil Action No. 2:07CV530 in United States District Court for the East District of Virginia, Norfolk Division.
Testified (direct examination by declaration) as an expert witness in an arbitration between Norfolk Southern Corporation and ACE Bermuda Insurance Ltd. concerning the reasonableness of legal fees incurred by counsel for Norfolk Southern Railroad in connection with the Graniteville, S.C. derailment.
Testified (affidavit) in United States ex rel Dennis LeFan v. General Electric Co., Civ. No.4:00CV222, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, concerning the reasonableness of legal fees submitted by Realtors’ counsel Helmer Martins Rice & Popham Priddy Cutler Miller & Meade and Volkema Thomas, in qui tam litigation involving alleged violations of the False Claims Act.
Testified (deposition and trial) as expert witness in In Re: ASARCO LLC, Case No: 05-21207, in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, regarding the reasonableness of, and compliance with applicable bankruptcy guidelines, of legal fees and expenses of counsel for Debtor.
Bruce Meckler’s Supplemental Attorney Fee Experience:
Conducted audit and fee dispute litigation regarding Sidley & Austin’s fees in the amount of $3.2 million for Bradley Trust Litigation which was estimated to cost $600,000 - $700,000.
Conducted audit and fee litigation regarding Foley & Lardner’s fees in the amount of $1,600,000 incurred as general counsel on behalf of the Harry Bradley Trust.
Conducted audit of Weil, Gotshal fees in the amount of $4.9 million incurred in its defense of Sony Corporation regarding Sony’s alleged misappropriation of the motion picture “Philadelphia.”
Conducted multiple audits and fee dispute litigation regarding Kirkland & Ellis fees incurred in its defense of Motorola in a TCE contamination case pending in Phoenix, Arizona.
Conducted audit of Goodell, Devries and 25 other defense firms who incurred $27 million in defense costs on behalf of Pacific Dunlap, Inc. in the Telectronics pacemaker litigation pending throughout the United States and Canada.
Retained as expert witness by Lord, Bissell & Brook concerning fees incurred by Bell, Boyd & Lloyd in its defense of Underwriters Laboratories.
Conducted audit of Katz, Friedman, Schur & Eagle, Thomas & Marner and Nicoara & Steagall in an amount in excess of $2.8 million incurred in its defense of the United Auto Workers Union in certain litigation relating to the Caterpillar strike.
Retained as expert witness by carriers regarding the reasonableness of approximately $67 million in legal fees and expenses incurred by Latham & Watkins in a case styled Montrose Chemical Corporation v. Canadian Universal Ins. Co. Inc. Los Angeles City, California, Case No. C59414B
Retained as expert witness by carriers to perform audit regarding the reasonableness of fees and expenses incurred by St. Joe Minerals Corp. in certain environmental litigation actions in case styled St. Joe Minerals Corp. v. Allianz Insur. Co., Superior Court of California for County of Orange, Case No. 697526.
Testified (deposition) as expert witness regarding my audit of the reasonableness of legal fees and expenses of Curtis, Mallet in defense of VIALCO in environmental and personal injury litigation pending in the U.S. Virgin Islands styled Alumina v. Zurich Insurance Company, U.S. District Court of Virgin Islands, Division of Virgin Islands, Civ. No. 1996/0172.
Retained by carrier to audit legal fees and expenses of Michael A. Pohl & Associates in PERC litigation regarding Pilgrim Enterprises.
Retained by Lord, Bissell & Brook as expert witness regarding the reasonableness of its fees incurred in litigation regarding the Estate of H. A. Phillips.
Testified (deposition) as expert witness in Federal Pacific Electric Company, et al. v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Company, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Civil Action No. 96-11289-RGS, regarding audit and the reasonableness of legal fees of Foley, Hoag & Eliot and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, L.L.P.
Testified (trial) as expert witness in Zurich Insurance Co. v. Metrolink, Ventura County, California, regarding the reasonableness of, allocation of covered versus non-covered legal fees and expenses.
Retained as expert witness in American Simmental Association v. Coregis Insurance Co., U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska, Case No. 4-98 CV 3327, regardingwitn audit of the reasonableness of $1,113,613 of legal fees and expenses of Harding & Ogborn; Gelt, Fleischman & Sterling; Ogborn & Summerlin; and Ogborn, Summerlin & Ogborn.
Testified (deposition) as expert ess in American Medical Systems, Inc. v. National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, PA, pending in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, Civil Action No. 98-1788 regarding audit of the reasonableness and allocation of legal fees and expenses incurred by Kaye Scholer, Oppenheimer & Wolfe and Montgomery Barnett in defense of AMS.
Testified (trial) as expert witness in Joseph T. Ryerson & Son, Inc. v. National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, P A and AIU Insurance Company, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Civil Action No. 98-CV-6739 regarding audit of the reasonableness of legal fees and expenses incurred by Chadbourne & Parke, LLC in defense of Thypin Steel Company.
Retained as expert witness to conduct audit regarding the reasonableness of legal fees and expenses incurred by Callahan and Ehret and Butler to defend CSX Corporation and its subsidiary CSX Rail Transportation, Inc. in Folkstone Maritime, Ltd. v. CSX Corporation and CSX Rail Transportation, Inc., Civil No. 88-CV -4040.
Lead counsel in audit and fee dispute litigation styled Tribune Company and Sentinel Communications Company v. Allstate Insurance Company, et al., pending in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, County Department, Chancery Division, No. 94 CH 1573, regarding Holland & Knight and Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue fees in the amount of approximately $4.0 million incurred in their defense of Sentinel Communications Company in a TCE contamination case brought in Orlando, Florida.
Testified (trial) as expert witness regarding the reasonableness of legal fees and expenses incurred by Michael Dolan & Associates in Michael Dolan & Associates v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, et al. in Superior Court in Los Angeles, California.
Lead counsel for Ortho Biotech, Inc. in arbitration proceedings between Ortho and Amgen, Inc. concerning the reasonableness of prevailing party attorneys’ fees and expenses claimed to exceed $110 million.
Lead counsel for American Excess Insurance Association in fee dispute arbitration against Baxter Pharmaceuticals, Inc. relating to the reasonableness of $150 million in defense costs incurred in the latex glove litigation.
Conducted legal audit of approximately $28 million in legal fees and defense expenses in connection with the IBM Clean Room litigation.
Retained as an expert by Terk Technologies, Inc. and conducted legal audit of the reasonableness of approximately $540,000 in legal costs incurred in patent litigation defended by Baker & Hostetler LLP.
Retained as an expert witness to audit the reasonableness approximately $40 million in legal fees and expense incurred by Knoll Pharmaceuticals Inc. in the In Re: Synthroid Marketing Litigation.
Retained to conduct audit and provide legal counsel in connection with the reasonableness of $500,000 in costs incurred by Clifford Chance and Wells in the defense Remy Amerique against allegations of unfair competition, trade mark and trade name litigation.
Conducted audit in connection with the reasonableness of $5.1 million in legal costs incurred by Specialty Foods Corporation to defend against patent infringement claims. Firms audited included: Foley & Lardner; Skadden Arps, Meagher & Flom and Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp LLP.
Retained as an expert witness to audit the reasonableness of $6.7 million in defense costs incurred by Boies Schiller in defense of Calvin Klein Inc. in connection with its licensing dispute against Warnaco, Inc.
Retained as an expert to conduct audit of approximately $5 million in legal costs incurred by counsel for Taco Bell to defend against unfair competition and misappropriation claims resulting from its “Chihuahua” advising campaign.
Retained to conduct legal audit of approximately $20 million in legal fees incurred by Chadbourne & Park, LLP to defend Purdue Pharmaceuticals in connection with the Senekot product liability litigation.
Lead counsel in connection with litigation concerning the reasonableness of in excess of $300 million in defense costs incurred to defend Purdue Pharmaceuticals in the OxyContin litigation pending nationwide.
Conducted audit and fee dispute litigation with Faegre & Benson concerning its fees in the amount of $2.7 million incurred in its defense of Ogleby-Norton Corporation regarding a sexual harassment class action concerning the Eveleth Mines.
Provided Expert Opinion in United States ex reI Dennis LeFan v. General Electric Co., Civ. No.4:00CV222, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, concerning the reasonableness of legal fees submitted by Relators’ counsel Helmer Martins Rice & Popham Priddy Cutler Miller & Meade and Volkema Thomas, in qui tam litigation involving alleged violations of the False Claims Act.
Conducted an audit regarding the reasonableness of legal fees and expenses incurred by Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, LLP, to defend a former CEO of General Reinsurance Corporation, in connection with a criminal indictment against the former CEO, as well as three other former executives of Gen Re and AIG, in the United States District Court of Connecticut.
Conducted audit and testified (deposition and arbitration) as an expert witness regarding the reasonableness of legal costs incurred by Bollinger, Ruberry & Garvey in their representation of EPS Solutions Corporation (“EPS”), in connection with five lawsuits filed by or against the EPS which related to the creation of and the roll-up of various entities into EPS.
Represented Steven Seagal in fee dispute litigation with Loeb & Loeb in Superior Court of California, Los Angeles.
Retained as expert by ACE Bermuda, Ltd. in proceeding to review reasonableness of $90 million in legal fees incurred by counsel for Norfolk Southern Railroad in connection with the Graniteville, S.C. derailment.
Retained as an expert by National Union Insurance and Federal Insurance to review reasonableness of $30 million in defense costs incurred by Goodyear in investigation of the facts and circumstances surrounding Goodyear’s intention to restate its earnings and for representation of Goodyear in connection with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigation into the Restatement.
Provided expert opinion and analysis concerning approximately $25 million in silica-related legal fees and expenses, including the parameters of field audit and onsite inspection of claim files to recreate “day-in-the-life” billing scenarios of select billers employed by Beirne Maynard & Parsons in Beirne Maynard & Parsons, LLP v. Riverstone Claims Management LLC, et al., Case No. 2006-0343, District Court, Harrison County, Texas (Houston).
Engaged by Kemper Insurance as an expert consultant to undertake a preliminary review and audit a sample of approximately $500,000 in legal fees incurred by a brake and crane manufacturer to defend against asbestos claims.
Provided expert opinion in connection with a D&O reimbursement case, J. Michael Stepp v. Heartland Industrial Partners, L.P., C.A. No. 4427-VCS, Chancery Court, Delaware, involving advancement requests totaling approximately $75 million by certain directors alleged to have engaged in the manipulations of accounting records in an effort to mislead investors as to the financial worth of the company.
Consulted with numerous insurers, Fortune 500 companies and law firms regarding billing practices, dealings with outside counsel and related issues.
Consulted (but did not serve as expert) on behalf of 20 other law firms in connection with pending litigation for fee disputes totaling $65 million.
Provided opinion letter to insurers on the ethical implications of Billing Guidelines, the use of outside auditions to audit fees and the implications both have on the ethical obligations of defense attorneys and the attorney-client privilege.
Provided an ethics opinion for client on the propriety of multi-disciplinary referral agreements and “fee splitting” (with non-attorneys) that must accompany the ethical use of either.
Provided ethics opinion for use at trial in connection with the propriety of changing the terms of an attorney-fee contract during the representation under the Rules of Professional Conduct for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois as adopted November 12, 1991 and amended September 1, 1999.