So I see everybody is buzzing about that French love-sick skunk being named the new US Senator from Florida.....

Huh? You mean it's not...?

Oops -- apparently the new US Senator is in fact Gunster chairman and former Crist chief of staff George LeMieux.

You can read more about George in his self-styled The Lemieux Report.

Roberto the trial lawyer and I apologize for any confusion.

I've not gotten into the local online frenzy over who will be our next caretaker Senator before the election, mostly because I was unaware that Mel Martinez was in fact still a sitting Senator.

Didn't he already retire?

Was he ever actually our Senator?

He is a nice guy with a compelling life story but was kind of a ghost Senator, much as he was a ghost litigator back when he practiced at Akerman.

The only notable thing he accomplished that I can recall was when he leaked that internal memo about how good it was to pump the Schiavo case to death.

Did he do anything else?

Anyway, swlip's friend Beth Reinhard thinks the next caretaker may be none other than Marlin Stadium fighter Roberto Martinez (via Riptide):

Martinez is a Republican but gets good reviews from Democrats like state Sen. Dan Gelber, who worked for Martinez in the early 1990s.

"Bob has got extraordinary character and intelligence and is as current on the issues as anyone I know,'' Gelber said. "He's a good Republican, but more importantly, he's a good American."

Longtime readers know Roberto is a favorite of this blog, so we're happy to possibly see him up there in DC, keeping the seat warm for his friend Charlie.

But Dan, you don't say Roberto is "a good American"; you say he's a "good 'merican"

Gotta get the pronunciation right, buddy.

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.

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.

You may recall the continuing efforts by Roberto Martinez, on behalf of longtime and beloved UM Law School Dean Hausler, to collect on a default judgment against the Cuban government relating to the 1960 torture and death of her brother Bobby Fuller.

The latest twist is a case recently removed and pending before Judge King in which Dean Hausler seeks to garnish funds allegedly retained by Tata Communications, a telecommunications company. Tata is represented by Michael Higer.

You can read the docket here.

Michael's answer (filed in state court before removal) asserts that the plaintiffs bear the burden and have not shown that ETECSA -- the telecommunications provider in Cuba -- is an instrumentality of the Cuban government and, even if it was, his client owes no money to it.

Higer also asserts that this case is entirely different than the Hausler I, the case brought against telephone provider EmtelCuba, in which there was no dispute that EmtelCuba was an agent or instrumentality of the Cuban government, and thus subject to garnishment for a judgment against the Cuban government.

The answer asserts that the extant evidence indicates that ETECSA is owned by Dutch, Italian, Panamanian and Cuban companies and thus would not be an agent or instrumentality of the Cuban government under existing law.

That seems like a tough sell, but who knows?

You can see some wonderful photos of Dean Hausler here.

Boy, February is always a bad time to be at a big firm, what with collection issues, reviews etc. but it's especially bad this year, huh? You can add Mike Casey's Epstein Becker to the list of firms that fired lawyers yesterday:

Here is a summary of jobs lost yesterday:

Bryan Cave: 58 lawyers and 76 staffers

Cozen O’Connor: 61 staffers

Dechert: 19 lawyers

DLA Piper: 80 lawyers and 100 staffers

Epstein Becker & Green: 23 lawyers and 30 staffers

Faegre & Benson: 29 lawyers

Goodwin Procter: 38 lawyers and 36 staffers

Holland & Knight: 70 lawyers and 173 staffers

In other fun math news, I see how the planned expenditure of Miami-Dade taxes to build that spiffy new Marlins stadium will total $1.8 billion over 40 years. That's just what's planned.

This includes a whoppin' planned county bond repayment of $144 million in 2044.

So when this already obsolete stadium is 32 years old, taxpayers will still be shelling out $144 million for construction that occurred more than three decades ago.

Oh no, here's comes another ode to Roberto (sung to the tune of Jenny/8675309):

Roberto, Roberto who can I turn to
You give me something I can hold on to
I know you'll think I'm like the others before
Who saw your lawsuit in front of Judge Cohen
Roberto I've got your number
You need to save our town
Roberto don't change your number
4 7 6-7 4 0 0 (4 7 6-7 4 0 0)
4 7 6-7 4 0 0 (4 7 6-7 4 0 0)

Roberto, Roberto you're the only lawyer for me
You don't know me but you make me so happy
I tried to co-counsel with you before
But I lost my nerve
I tried negotiating with Bruce Greer
But Judge Cohen wouldn't let me
Roberto I've got your number
You need to save this town
Roberto don't change your number
4 7 6-7 4 0 0 (4 7 6-7 4 0 0)
4 7 6-7 4 0 0 (4 7 6-7 4 0 0)

I got it (I got it), I got it
I got your number on my phone
I got it (I got it), I got it
To save our county call
Roberto don't change your number
You need to save this town
Roberto I've got your number
4 7 6-7 4 0 0 (4 7 6-7 4 0 0)
4 7 6-7 4 0 0 (4 7 6-7 4 0 0)

Ain't numbers fun?

So, how many of you woke up this morning and found out you were a Super Lawyer? Ahhh, that packet is so cute!

I'm shocked -- shocked -- to learn that the County did not negotiate a very good deal to spend hundreds of millions of tax dollars building a new stadium for the Marlins:

''It's probably not the best deal that has ever been worked out between a community and a team,'' Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez said after his State of the County speech on Tuesday.

You think?

Just ask this lady, after learning of an additional $56 million slashed from the schools budget, which has already suffered more than $300 million in cuts this year alone:

Linda Cohen, a 55-year-old reading teacher at North Miami Beach Senior High School, said the plan was ``insult to injury.''

''We're not just talking about two days,'' said Cohen, whose home was foreclosed on two weeks ago. ``We're talking about what it's doing to our families all over the county.''

But I bet she's a huge Marlins fan!

Has anyone else noticed the similarities between Dave Samson and David Spade's character from The Coneheads movie? Hard to decide who's more unctuous -- ok, it's a tie.

Interesting fact -- did you know the nude beach at Haulover outdraws the Marlins and Dolphins combined?

Hey, facts are funny things.

Oh Roberto! Roberto Roberto Roberto!! Come save us Roberto!

I'm reminded of that great Rudyard Kipling line from The English Flag:

Ye have but my breath to dare,
Ye have but my waves to conquer. Go forth, for it is there!"

Holy hail Roberto Martinez, go forth, for it is there!