Maryland Lawyer Seeks $30,000 an Hour For His Part in State’s Tobacco Lawsuit

The Wall Street Journal published an editorial on July 5th entitled, “$30,000 an Hour,” which outlined Peter Angelos’ contingency fee of 25% of the state of Maryland’s $4.6 billion share of the tobacco settlement. According to the article, and by Peter Angelos’ own admission, the contingency fee of 25% of $4.6 billion is equivalent to $30, 000 an hour.

The state of Maryland will receive $3.2 million for the 17,000 hours it spent on the case. According to the article, that translates to an average rate of $188 an hour for the lawyers who worked under the auspices of the state Attorney General J. Joesph Curran, and who often found themselves supervising the ill-experienced staff of Peter Angelos. Reportedly, Peter Angelos’ firm utilized temporary personnel, whose man-power contributed to a quarter of the billable hours, at a rate of $12 an hour. Intrinsically, Mr. Angelos plans to earn 2,500 times more than his staff.

Click on the following icon for further information on The Wall Street Journal editorial entitled, “$30,000 an Hour,” published on July 5th.