A recent WSJ Law Blog story, “’Deflategate’ Legal Bills Add Up,” reports that the saga about an alleged scheme to deflate footballs wasn’t exactly a pro bono affair.  The legal bills surrounding the NFL scandal — which is still playing out in federal court — could reach $20 million, according to an ESPN analysis.

That price tag includes the costs accumulated during the NFL’s appeal of last September’s ruling by a federal judge vacating the league’s four-game suspension of New England Patriots star quarterback Tom Brady.

That appeal is being heard by a federal appeals court panel in New York City on Thursday.  The panel hearing the case is composed of Judges Robert A. Katzmann, Barrington D. Parker and Denny Chin.

ESPN estimates that the NFL has spent $12.5 million on legal costs, including the $2.5 million it paid to the Manhattan attorney Theodore V. Wells Jr. of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP to investigate the deflated footballs.  It was Wells’ controversial 243-page report that led to Tom Brady’s suspension.

ESPN then calculates that the players’ union spent $5 million in legal fees on behalf of Mr. Brady and that the Patriots spent $500,000 on the case, factoring in the expenses to produce the lengthy rebuttal to the Wells report that was prepared by outside counsel.

Finally, ESPN throws in miscellaneous costs:

So that gets us to $18 million.  How does it rise to $20 million?  First of all, there are some missing costs.  A vendor for document production is a considerable cost, as is the cost for expert witnesses.  Since there’s a large range here, it’s harder to attach a number to this.