Hi folks, it's Monday (again).

I was moved yesterday by this heartfelt tribute.

So, in honor of the American Soldier, I'm gonna quit makin' things up.

You know, that felt pretty good.

Ok, I'm done.

Speaking of heartfelt tributes, John Pacenti reviews Judge Moreno, and says he's funny, entertaining, and informative, but that G-Force is still better family fare.

Hey, what do you know -- Governor Crist likes classic films too!

By Guest Blogger:

Remember Judge Moreno's reaction to the requested $11 million MBC fee enhancement request?

It almost caused a judicial heart attack:

“I needed a defibrillator,” he joked. “We’re talking about a lot of money.”

Well the judge must have had a nice herbal tea which settled his nerves, because on Friday he granted most of the request:

In this case, the uniqueness and complexity of the issues required lawyers with substantial skill, expertise, and tenacity, and it is undisputed that the lawyers' excellent representation enhanced the asset pool of funds to be distributed. Under these facts, these great lawyers did make a difference, and they should be compensated at a rate higher than $2 18 or even $264 per hour.

On the other hand, as the Receiver concedes, the Court wrote in WaIco Investments, Inc. v. Thenen, 975 F. Supp. 1468,1472 (S.D. Fla. 1997), that "the presence of a consistently paying client for four years, even at a reduced hourly rate, would warm the heart, let alone the pocketbook, of even the most successful securities litigator." Therefore, the Court must consider the good results obtained as a result of the attorneys' great work, but at a rate less than the $550 to $765 being paid by clients in the free market in South Florida.

Balancing these factors, the Court believes that $450 per hour is a reasonable rate in this case in the Southern District of Florida. At $450 per hour, the total compensation for 18,740 hours should be $8,433,000. The Receiver's motion states that the Receiver's lawyers have already been paid $3,876,081. Thus, the Receiver's lawyers shall be entitled to an additional award of $4,556,919 for its work through April 2009. Moreover, because the 18,740 hours worked by the law firms do not include work past April 2009, the Court will grant attorneys' fees for the work done after April 2009.

Seems like the right call to me.

Remember when we discussed the impending changes to the Federal Rules and the adoption of the new "days are days" time calculation standard?

Well, even though we live here in South Florida, it appears that things are actually under control, in that Chief Judge Moreno just signed this Administrative Order reconciling our local rules with the new changes.

Sure it took a few tries, but the main thing is they got it right:

Due to several discrepancies in the attachments to Administrative Order 2009-34 and Supplemental Administrative Order 2009-34, the Court vacates those orders.

This Administrative Order is intended to supercede those orders in their entirety.

For the reasons set forth below, the petition of the Ad Hoc Committee on Rules and Procedures for an Administrative Order concerning the calculation of time periods under the Local Rules is GRANTED.

This Court amends its various local rules on an annual cycle corresponding to the issuance of new rules books for Florida federal practitioners by West Publishing Company, after a period of public comment, notice, and an opportunity to be heard in accordance with Fed. R. Civ. P. 83 and Fed. R. Crim. P. 57.

Substantial changes to the manner in which dates are calculated in the various Federal Rules of Procedure have been approved this year and will go into effect on December 1, 2009. The Committee has prepared corresponding amendments to the Local Rules, the Discovery Handbook, the Rules Governing Attorney Discipline, the Magistrate Judge Rules, and the Admiralty Rules.

These, however, will not go into effect until April 15, 2010, subject to the notice and comment procedures described above.

To avoid any discrepancy between the manner in which time is calculated under the various Federal Rules of Procedure and the Local Rules of this District during the interim period of December 1, 2009 when the amendments to the Federal Rules go into effect and April 15, 2010 when the corresponding amendments to the Local Rules will go into effect, the Committee has requested that time-calculation changes to the above rules be set forth as an attachment to an Administrative Order,
to be in effect during the interim period. The Court has determined that this is appropriate, and it is

ORDERED that the modifications to the Local Rules, the Discovery Handbook, the Rules Governing Attorney Discipline, the Magistrate Judge Rules, and the Admiralty Rules shown on the attached table shall be effective as of December 1,2009. This Order shall expire on April 15,201 0.

It is further

ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court is directed to post this Order, with the attached table, on the Court's website, and to take such other measures as he deems necessary to advise members of the Bar of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida of the forthcoming changes in time calculations in the Local Rules.

Thanks to the Chief Judge and all the folks working on this for your hard work and diligence.

(I wonder if the Ad Hoc Committee can do something about that new pleading standard I've heard something about.......)

There's been a lot of discussion lately about the bills submitted by receivers and trustees in bankruptcy to compensate lawyers for marshaling up assets.

David notes Vanessa Blum's excellent coverage of the recent hearing before Judge Moreno, where Roberto Martinez argued for an $11 million "enhancement" for his and KTT's work on the MBC receivership.

As reported by Vanessa, the Judge in his usual manner had something funny and charming yet witty to say:

“I needed a defibrillator,” he joked. “We’re talking about a lot of money.”

He's right, but to be fair I pulled the final fee app, which you can review here.

Roberto basically argues that his firm and KTT agreed to discount their rates back in 2004, have not sought any increases during the five years of the receivership, and did incredible work very efficiently which resulted in a big distribution to investors. Accordingly, they ask for 10 percent of what they collected as a bonus, which apparently was an option contemplated in the original fee agreements.

Michael Hanzman, who served as counsel in a related class-action case involving MBC, approves:

“If you want to attract the best and the brightest people to take these cases, you have to pay a reasonable fee,” Hanzman said. “This is not a pro bono case.”

I think the Judge's comments highlight where he is going with this.

However, I wonder whether these firms could have billed at incrementally higher rates over the last five years and possibly recouped a chunk of this bonus back through regular applications to the Court without ever garnering this kind of headline?

Indeed, consider what's going on with our friend Allen Stanford and his receivership, which is just off the ground and has accrued over $36 million in fees -- or $100,000 a day. Not good.

The Judge also referenced the Supreme Court's recent dismay over how much it costs to litigate cases nowadays, though that involved a fee-shifting statutory question not at issue here.

My own take is this is probably not the best case or the best time to make a request like this, and you definitely do not ever want to make Judge Moreno's eyes boggle if you can avoid it.

Let's see what he does with it.

So as I do every St. Patty's Day, my day began in the normal fashion -- an early morning viewing of the 1985 lost classic "Troll," while sipping a stiff Irish coffee, followed by a Murphy's/naturebee double shot chaser.

Oh it's gonna be a good day.

I then did a few edits to Judge Zloch's memo to Chief Judge Moreno, pdfed it on over to the courthouse, and then jumped in the hot tub for an extended bath. I even exfoliated!

Who knew by the time I got in this morning intrepid reporter Julie Kay was all over the story:

Recipients of the Zloch memo said they were stunned and certain Graham was not behind it. Moreno’s subsequent memos were sent internally only to members of the bench.

“This is family,” U.S. Magistrate Judge Peter Palermo in Miami said. “I love Judge Moreno. What Judge Zloch did was a surprise, and the way he did it. It’s a family affair. And I know Judge Graham is not that type of guy.”

When asked what he felt motivated Zloch, Palermo said: “The memo speaks for itself. You’d have to ask Judge Zloch.”

Just another day in paradise, people.

Sheesh it's not even 9 a.m. and my work here is almost done!