Rates for top associates at firms such as Weil, Gotshal & Manges and Kirkland & Ellis are rising just as a new wave of Chapter 11 bankruptcies gather steam. A filing shows J.Crew paid its lawyers at Weil close to $12 million in the 90 days before the company filed for bankruptcy this month.
The coronavirus pandemic quickly upended the economy and sent already struggling companies into free-fall, with retailers such as J.Crew, Neiman Marcus and J.C. Penney among those filing for Chapter 11 protection in recent weeks.