In re: Evangelical Retirement Homes of Greater Chicago, Incorporated d/b/a Friendship Village of Schaumburg

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, ) Chapter 11 INCORPORATED d/b/a FRIENDSHIP ) VILLAGE OF SCHAUMBURG, ) Judge Timothy A. Barnes ) Debtor(s). FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW IN SUPPORT OF ORDER AWARDING TO DOPKELAW LLC, ATTORNEYS FOR DEBTOR, FOR ALLOWANCE AND PAYMENT OF INTERIM COMPENSATION AND REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES TOTAL FEES REQUESTED: $ 52,020.00 TOTAL COSTS REQUESTED: $ 0.00 TOTAL FEES REDUCED: $ 167.00 TOTAL COSTS REDUCED: $ 0.00 TOTAL FEES ALLOWED: $ 51,853.00 TOTAL COSTS ALLOWED: $ 0.00 TOTAL FEES AND COSTS ALLOWED: $51,853.00* *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) Unreasonable Time – TOTAL of disallowed amounts: $69.00 The Court denies the allowance in part of compensation for the indicated task(s) since the professional or paraprofessional expended an unreasonable amount of time on the task(s) in light of the nature of the task(s), the experience and knowledge of the professional performing the task(s), and the amount of time previously expended by the professional or another on the task(s). In re Pettibone, 74 B.R. 293, 306 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 1987) (Schmetterer, J.) (“The Court will determine what is the reasonable amount of time an attorney should have to spend on a given project... An attorney should not be rewarded for inefficiency. Similarly, attorneys will not be fully compensated for spending an unreasonable number of hours on activities of little benefit to the estate.”); In re Wildman, 72 B.R. 700, 713 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 1987) (Schmetterer, J.) (same). As to the time devoted to the preparation of the fee application itself, the Court denies the allowance of compensation that is disproportionate to the total hours in the main case. In re Wildman, 72 B.R. 700, 711 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 1987) (Schmetterer, J.) (“In the absence of unusual circumstances, the hours allowed by this Court for preparing and litigating the attorney fee application should not exceed three percent of the total hours in the main case.”); In re Spanjer Bros., Inc., 203 B.R. 85, 93 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 1996) (Squires, J.) (compensation limited to 5%); see also In re Pettibone Corp., 74 B.R. 293, 304 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 1987) (Schmetterer, J.) (citing Coulter v. State of Tennessee, 805 F.2d 146, 151 (6th Cir. 1986) (Gn nonbankruptcy cases, compensation for preparation and litigation of fee petitions limited to 3-5'% of the hours of the main case)).

(2) Computational or Typographical Error — TOTAL of disallowed amounts: $98.00 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.

Dated: February 14, 2024 ~_ S— — ‘Timothy A. Barnes United States Bankruptcy Judge

SUMMARY LIST OF ALL PRINCIPAL ACTIVITIES OF DOPKELAW DURING THE FEE PERIOD Category Hours Total Fee** CC — (Cash Collateral) hours: 2.8 $ 1,364.50 Comm - Communications hours: 17.1 $ 8,216.50 Court hours: 2.6 $ 1,256.50 DIP — Dip Loan Activity hours: 2.0 $ 980.00 DOTF hours: 4.5 $ 2092.50 EMP — Employ Professionals hours: 16.1 $ 7,886.50 Fee — Fee statements and apps hours: 5.5 $ 2,670.00 time HPrep — (Hearing preparation) hours: 4.0 $ 1,950.00 MOT - (Motion practice) hours: 11.1 $ 5,264.00 OPS — (Operations) hours: .9 $ 421.00 Plan hours: 23.2 $ 11,353.00 PSS — Petition Schedules SOFA hours: 3.5 $ 1,702.50 Reports hours: 2.8 $ 1,339.50 Sale Process hours: 5.9 §$ 2,836.00 UCC — Creditors Committee hours: _5.5 $ 2,687.50 $2601) Totals: hours: 107.5 $ 52,020.00 Amount requested to be allowed and paid: $ 41,616.00 The foregoing total is 80% of the $52,020.00 total fees in the Interim Fee Period. ** Per our engagement letter, our hourly billing rates were raised from $465 per hour to $490 per hour on October 1, 2023. See Order Granting Motion To Employ Bruce Dopke and Dopkelaw LLC As General Bankruptcy Counsel To The Debtor [Docket No. 140, Exhibit 1, page 14 of 21. The fees per category are a mix of the $465/hour billings in September 2023 and the $490/hour billings in October and November 2023. 2024-1-10 EXHIBIT 1

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In re: Evangelical Retirement Homes of Greater Chicago, Incorporated d/b/a Friendship Village of Schaumburg, (Ill. 2024).

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Related

Coulter v. State Of Tennessee
805 F.2d 146 (Sixth Circuit, 1986)
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 Spanjer Bros., Inc.
203 B.R. 85 (N.D. Illinois, 1996)