In re: Evangelical Retirement Homes Of Greater Chicago, I

United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Illinois·Decided February 14, 2024·No. 23-07541·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION In re: ) ) Case No. 23bk07541 Evangelical Retirement Homes Of Greater ) Chicago, I, ) Chapter 11 ) Debtor. ) Judge Timothy A. Barnes

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW IN SUPPORT OF ORDER AWARDING TO WYSE ADVISORS LLC, FINANCIAL ADVISOR FOR THE DEBTOR, FOR ALLOWANCE AND PAYMENT OF SECOND INTERIM COMPENSATION AND REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES TOTAL FEES REQUESTED: $123,327.00 TOTALCOSTS REQUESTED: — $0.00 TOTAL FEES REDUCED: $ 37,400.63 TOTAL COSTS REDUCED: $ 0.00 TOTAL FEES ALLOWED: $85,926.00 ‘TOTALCOSTS ALLOWED: $ 0.00 TOTAL FEES AND COSTS ALLOWED: $ 85,926.00* *Pursuant to paragraph 2(d) of Dkt. No. 150, the Debtor may only pay 80% of allowed fees and 100% of costs. ‘The attached time and expense entries have been underlined to reflect disallowance in whole or in part. ‘The basis for each disallowance is reflected by numerical notations that appear on the left of each underlined entry. ‘The numerical notations correspond to the enumerated paragraphs below. (1) Insufficient Description — TOTAL of disallowed amounts: $ 35,287.50 The Court denies the allowance of compensation for the indicated task(s) as the description of each task fails to identify in a reasonable manner the service rendered. In re Pettibone, 74 B.R. 293, 301 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 1987) (Schmetterer, J.) (‘A proper fee application must list each activity, its date, the attorney who performed the work, a description of the nature and substance of the work performed, and the time spent on the work. [Citation omitted] Records which give no explanation of the activities performed are not compensable.”); I” re Wildman, 72 B.R. 700, 708-09 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 1987) (Schmetterer, J.) (same). (2) Improper ‘Time Increments for Billing — TOTAL of disallowed amounts (10% of affected entries): $ 346.88 The court may impose a ten percent penalty for using improper time increments for billing. “Professional persons .. . cannot, in all honesty and reasonableness, charge their clients for increments in excess of one-tenth of an hour.” In re Wildman, 72 B.R. 700, 726 (Bankr. N.D. IIL 1987) (Schmetterer, J.). This penalty will be imposed where time increments larger than one-tenth of an hour are being used. For example, applicants who bill time using quarter-hour increments risk the ten percent penalty.

(3) Duplication of Services — TOTAL of disallowed amounts: $ 1,616.25 The Court denies the allowance of compensation for services that duplicate those of another professional or paraprofessional. See 11 U.S.C. § 330(a)(4)(A) (a). Reduction in fees is warranted if multiple attorneys from the same firm appear in court on a motion or argument or for a conference, unless counsel adequately demonstrates that each attorney present contributed in some meaningful way. In re Pettibone, 74 B.R. 293, 307 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 1987) (Schmetterer, J.) (‘A debtor’s estate should not bear the burden of duplication of services. If found in the record, such duplication shall be disallowed by the court as unnecessary.”). It 1s also an accepted principle that generally no more than one attorney may bill for time spent in an intra-office conference or meeting absent an adequate explanation. See In re Adventist Living Cirs., Inc., 137 B.R. 701, 716 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 1991) (Sonderby, J.); I” re Pettibone, 74 B.R. at 303; But see In re MEP Infrastructure Sols., Inc., 654 B.R. 922, 925 (Bankr. N.D. II. 2023) (Goldgar, J.) Gncorrectly citing In re Stainless Sales Corp., Case No. 17 B 3148, 2017 WL 2829675, at *2 (Bankr. N.D. IIL June 27, 2017) (Barnes, J.) for the proposition that intra-office meetings between multiple lawyers are never compensable when Stainless cites to Pettibone for the foregoing—that an application must “adequately demonstrate[] that each attorney present contributed in some meaningful way” and thus satisfy 11 U.S.C. § 330(a)(3)(D) by demonstrating that the meeting 1s “necessary” or “beneficial” and must have taken a “reasonable amount of time.”’). (4) Computational or ‘Typographical Error — "TOTAL of disallowed amounts: $ 150.00 The court denies the allowance of compensation for the following tasks because the amount of fees appears to be a computational or typographical error. Also, where there are two identical entries (same day, same tasks, same time billed), the court will consider one of the entries to be a typographical error. oS © Dated: February 14, 2024 Te ‘Timothy A. Barnes United States Bankruptcy Judge

EXHIBIT A - Detailed Time Descriptions

9/1/2023 Michael Franciosa | Cure schedule work session. B290 Schedules / SOFAS / UST $ 300.00 $ = 300.0 Reports 1.00 9/1/2023 Michael Franciosa | Creditor matrix work session. B290 Schedules / SOFAS / UST $ 300.00 $ □□ □□□□□□ Reports 0.80 9/1/2023 Mike Wyse Prepared for and participated in Board Call B210 Business Operations iso | $ 750.00 $ 1,125.00 1.50 9/1/2023 Mike Wyse Numerous calls and emails with company B210 Business Operations $ 750.00 $ 1,500.0 and counsel 2.00 9/5/2023 Cole Celenza Participated in weekly status call. B210 Business Operations oso | $ 375.00 $ □□□□□ 0.50 9/5/2023 Cole Celenza SOFA/SOAL work session. B290 Schedules / SOFAS / UST $ 375.00 $ □□ □□□□□□ Reports 9/6/2023 Cole Celenza 13-week cash flow work session. B230 Financing & Cash Collateral □□□ | $ 375.00 $ □□□□□ 1.30 9/6/2023 Cole Celenza DIP budget reporting work session. B230 Financing & Cash Collateral oso $ 375.00 $ □□□□□ 0.50 9/6/2023 Michael Franciosa | 13-week cash flow work session. B230 Financing & Cash Collateral oso $ 300.00 $ 150.0 0.50 9/6/2023 Mike Wyse Numerous calls and emails with company B210 Business Operations $ 750.00 $ 1,350.0 and counsel 1.80 9/7/2023 Cole Celenza Diligence request work session. B130 Asset Disposition & Sales io | $ 375.00 $ = □□□□□ 1.90 9/7/2023 Cole Celenza Diligence request work session. B130 Asset Disposition & Sales oso $ 375.00 $ □□□□□ 0.50 9/7/2023 Cole Celenza Numerous emails with Debtor's counsel. B210 Business Operations 090 $ 375.00 $ □□□□□ 9/7/2023 Cole Celenza Prepared for and participated in sale process | B130 Asset Disposition & Sales $ 375.00 $ □□□□□□ updates discussion. 0.75 9/7/2023 Cole Celenza 13-week cash flow work session. B230 Financing & Cash Collateral Liao | $ 375.00 $ □□□□□ 1.30 9/7/2023 Cole Celenza Cash management work session. B230 Financing & Cash Collateral Lomo $ 375.00 $ □□ □□□□□□ 9/7/2023 Mike Wyse Numerous calls and emails with company B210 Business Operations $ 750.00 $ 1,125.00 and counsel 1.50 9/8/2023 Cole Celenza Variance analysis work session. B230 Financing & Cash Collateral oso $ 375.00 $ □□□□□ 0.50 9/8/2023 Cole Celenza Numerous calls with Debtor's counsel. B210 Business Operations oso $ 375.00 $ □□□□□ 0.50 9/8/2023 Michael Franciosa | SOFA/SOAL work session. B290 Schedules / SOFAS / UST $ 300.00 $ □ 420.01 Reports 1.40 9/11/2023 | Cole Celenza DIP budget work session. B230 Financing & Cash Collateral oso $ 375.00 $ = 300.0 0.80 9/11/2023 | Cole Celenza UCC data request work session. B210 Business Operations $ 375.00 $ 112.5¢ 0.30 9/11/2023 | Cole Celenza DIP budget work session. B230 Financing & Cash Collateral | $ 375.00 $ 562.5( 1.50 9/11/2023 | Cole Celenza Numerous calls with Debtor's counsel. B210 Business Operations oso _| $ 375.00 $ □ □□□□□□ 9/11/2023 | Cole Celenza Participated in weekly status call. B210 Business Operations oso _| $ 375.00 $ 112.5¢ 0.30 9/11/2023 | Mike Wyse Prepared for and participated in weekly B210 Business Operations Lito $ 750.00 $ 1,275.0 calls 1.70 9/12/2023 | Cole Celenza DIP budget work session. B230 Financing & Cash Collateral oo | $ 375.00 $ □□□□□□□□ 2.70 9/12/2023 | Cole Celenza Numerous emails with Debtor.

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Related

In Re Wildman
72 B.R. 700 (N.D. Illinois, 1987)
In Re Pettibone Corp.
74 B.R. 293 (N.D. Illinois, 1987)
In Re Adventist Living Centers, Inc.
137 B.R. 701 (N.D. Illinois, 1991)