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Lawyers Take Amtrak for a Ride
by Anna Palmer
© Copyright 2006 Legal Times
Amtrak may not be making money, but is lawyers sure are. According to a report last week by the Amtrak Office of Inspector General and the US Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, the government-subsidized rail system mismanaged more than $100 million in legal bills paid to law firms. The probe, which was requested by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, found that between June 2002 and June 2005, 10 firms billed Amtrak more than $40 million for litigation work. ...
John Toothman, who helped review Amtrak's use of outside counsel, says the train operator's legal department did not negotiate the usual government discount on legal services or check to make sure its bills reflected discounts. "The law department didn't view itself as being the champion, the professional fiduciary, of it client, which is Amtrak," says Toothman, founder of the legal fee management firm the Devil's Advocate. "The were more defensive of outside law firms that they were supposed to be managing." ...
Toothman says that [the Law Department's] critique doesn't wash. "They had a large case that settled, and that's why their expenses went down."