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Big Verdict = Big Fees in Apple-Samsung Trial

August 31, 2012 | Posted in : Fee Award

A recent WSJ Law Blog story “Check, Please: Experts Say Apple, Samsung Face Sky-High Legal Fees,” reports that the attorney fees in the largest patent verdict in history should top tens of millions or even hundreds of millions for each side in the Apple-Samsung trial. 

The nine-member federal court jury setting in San Jose rendered a verdict of $1.05 billion against Samsung after just two-and-a-half days of deliberations.  The four-week trial featured attorneys from Morrison & Foerster and Wilmer Culter Pickering Hale and Dorr for Apple, and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan for Samsung.

Court documents show that some Morrison Foerster partners and of counsel billed a median rate of $582 an hour for work on portions of the case, while some Quinn Emanuel partners billed on average $821 per hour.  Money well spent, give the stakes.  “This is big, high-stakes litigation,” said Donald R. Dunner, a patent law expert and senior partner at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP.  “They’ve got the best lawyers they could find, and they charged fees that are commensurate with their talent.”