Comments on Advance Indiana™: State Paid Barnes & Thornburg $9.6 Million For Losing Case Against IBM

"I'm getting tired of this "hey, loo...

2012-07-20T14:59:07.900-05:00

"I'm getting tired of this "hey, look over here" crap to divert attention from the real crimes taking place."

Amen, Gary, Amen

Hogsett won't take any meaningful action, as t...

2012-07-20T09:40:51.940-05:00

Hogsett won't take any meaningful action, as the system that benefits B&T, today, benefits Baker Daniels in subsequent elections.

That's why I couldn't get excited about th...

2012-07-19T22:55:44.368-05:00

That's why I couldn't get excited about the U.S. Attorney's indictment of members of that biker gang. Whatever crimes they committed were small time stuff compared to what's taking place in government every day in this town. I'm getting tired of this "hey, look over here" crap to divert attention from the real crimes taking place.

I see Daniels is planning on appealing. B&T se...

2012-07-19T21:31:43.906-05:00

I see Daniels is planning on appealing. B&T sees this as the case that keeps on giving.

Here's the hourly rates that were provided in ...

2012-07-19T19:52:46.581-05:00

Here's the hourly rates that were provided in the contract with B&T by attorney:

Hourly rate: John Maley - $465; Bryan Burdick - $405; Peter Rusthoven - $475; Patrick Price - $255; Curtis Greene - $265

It certainly appears that there was collusion, Cat...

2012-07-19T16:31:29.411-05:00

It certainly appears that there was collusion, Cato. No $200 an hour for their legal work though. I believe they were being compensated over $400 an hour for their principal attorneys' time. I'm sure the associates got paid more than $200 an hour. It's only us low-life attorneys who have to accept the lower fee for public work. The big law firm I formerly worked at seemed to reward attorneys who padded their bills. I got admonished in my evaluation for not putting down enough time for the work I did. My secretary and I used to laugh at the billing times sheets one of the partners turned in at the end of the day. It's funny how someone who spent half the day talking to his broker or one of his family members on the phone could always manage to bill 8 hours before slipping out of the office at 4:00.

Has Loftus paid a penalty? Surely you jest. He probably got a six-figure bonus for his handiwork. He'll never pay a penalty. In this business, the more dishonest you are, the more you get ahead. The honest attorneys go broke and have to look for other work.

Has Loftus paid any penalty for going behind IBM&#...

2012-07-19T15:52:26.375-05:00

Has Loftus paid any penalty for going behind IBM's back and putting the contract in jeopardy from their perspective? Didn't his firm negotiate that very contract?

I wonder whether the entire case and contract were...

2012-07-19T15:13:43.813-05:00

I wonder whether the entire case and contract were structured to ensure that Barnes and Thornburg would be paid handsomely.

An attorney at B&T probably could have settled the case long ago for either the award amount or the award amount plus a bit of the 9.6M. The taxpayers would have come out ahead, but B&T would have been denied a big payday.

It looks like every dispute with the state elicits a "yee-ha" from the Republicans, as they get to give B&T more tax dollars.

This almost looks collusive.

I further wonder about the accounting. B&T cannot be billing taxpayers any more than $200 for public legal work, and no honest politician would sign a contract letting them charge more than that to taxpayers.

At $200/hr, 9.6M divides into 48000 hours. It would take 9 attorneys working two years at 40 hours a week exclusively on this case to accumulate $9.6M.

Somehow, I think the public was fleeced, especially when this case could likely have settled in 15 minutes.

Loud applause for Judge David Dreyer, for his outs...

2012-07-19T11:12:38.202-05:00

Loud applause for Judge David Dreyer, for his outspoken opinion, and for you Gary, for your forthright reporting on this expensive scam on the Indiana taxpayer, and naming the players. Of course, the criminals should be indicted.