In Re Northwestern Corp.

324 B.R. 538, 54 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 265, 2005 Bankr. LEXIS 798, 44 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 204, 2005 WL 1077560
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. Delaware
DecidedMay 5, 2005
Docket19-10276
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 324 B.R. 538 (In Re Northwestern Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Northwestern Corp., 324 B.R. 538, 54 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 265, 2005 Bankr. LEXIS 798, 44 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 204, 2005 WL 1077560 (Del. 2005).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION WITH RESPECT TO FINAL FEE APPLICATION OF LAZARD FRÉRES & CO. LLC 1

JOHN L. PETERSON, Bankruptcy Judge.

After due notice, hearing on the Final Fee Application of Lazard Fréres & Co. LLC (“Lazard”) was held on April 5, 2005. Testimony was submitted by Lazard’s Managing Director, Andrew Yearly, and Exhibit 1 was entered into evidence. 2 The Final Fee Application seeks compensation and reimbursement of expenses for a period from September 14, 2003 through November 1, 2004 for services as financial advisor and investment banker to the debt- or-in-possession in connection with the Debtor’s chapter 11 reorganization. No objections to the Final Fee Application have been filed by any party-in-interest.

On October 10, 2003, this Court entered an order authorizing the employment of Lazard pursuant to sections 327(a) and 328(a) of the Bankruptcy Code 3 nunc pro tunc to the petition date (September 14, 2003) [Docket No. 199], Lazard had been employed by the Debtor pre-petition, since May 20, 2003, to review and evaluate Debt- or’s business operations, liquidity, potential debt capacity and out-of-court and in-court restructuring alternatives, among other matters. Lazard was paid in full for their pre-petition services prior to the petition date.

The Application to Employ and attached Engagement Letter states “the Debtor has been advised that, fees and services rendered in these cases will be as follows:

a. A monthly fee in the amount of $200,000 payable in advance upon the 15th day of each month until the termination of the agreement”;
b. A fee (the “Restructuring Fee”) in the amount of $5.5 million payable upon the earlier of execution of definitive agreements with respect to a Restructuring and delivery of binding consents to such plan by a sufficient number of creditors and/or bondholders, as the case may be, to bind the creditors or bondholders, as the case may be to the Restructuring; ....
f. In addition to. any fees that may be payable to Lazard and, regardless of whether any transaction occurs, the Debtor shall promptly reimburse La-zard for all: (i) reasonable out-of pocket expenses (including travel and lodging, data processing and communications charges, courier services and *540 other appropriate expenditures) and (ii) other reasonable fees and expenses of counsel, if any.

[Docket No. 39]. The Application to Employ acknowledged Lazard’s restructuring expertise, the anticipated substantial commitment of professional time and effort required by Lazard in light of the fact that the retention may foreclose other consulting opportunities for Lazard (which were not specified) and that the actual time required may vary substantially from week-to-week or month-to-month. The Debtor agreed that the fee arrangements contained were reasonable under the standards set forth in section 328(a).

The Application to Employ noted that it is not the general practice of financial advisors and investment bankers to keep detailed time records similar to those customarily kept by attorneys. Lazard however agreed, as required by the Engagement Letter, that it would file with the Court interim and final fee applications with respect to its services “in accordance with applicable provisions of the Bankruptcy Code, the Bankruptcy Rules, the Local Rules of Bankruptcy Practice and Procedure of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (the ‘Local Rules’) and any applicable orders of the Court.” These fee applications would include time records that set forth summary descriptions of the services rendered by each restructuring professional. Lazard also agreed to keep detailed records of its actual and necessary costs and expenses.

The Application to Employ requested retention under section 328(a), which La-zard claims enables the Debtor to retain professionals pursuant to specific fee arrangements to be determined at the time the Court approves retention, “subject to reversal only if the terms are found to be improvident in light of ‘developments not capable of being anticipated at the time of the fixing of such terms and conditions.’ ” (Application to Employ, p. 14, citing Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Sec. Corp. v. National Gypsum Co. (In re National Gypsum Co.), 123 F.3d 861, 862-63 (5th Cir.1997)).

Attached to the Application to Employ was an affidavit of a Managing Director of Lazard, David S. Kurtz, which sets forth many of the statements contained in the Application to Employ. The affidavit also included a “conflict” statement, which stated Lazard had no conflicts of interest with any creditors, although some connection with common auditors, Deloitte & Touche, PG & E Equity Group and lending groups were noted.

Also attached to the Application to Employ was a proposed form of order, which was modified before signature by the Court on October 10, 2003 [Docket No. 199], The Order granted the Application to Employ, employed Lazard pursuant to sections 327(a) and 328(a) as financial ad-visors “on the terms set forth in the Application,” including the compensation language, “subject to the procedures set forth in the Bankruptcy Code, the Bankruptcy Rules, the Local Rules, and any other applicable orders of this Court .... ” After ordering that Lazard shall file interim and final fee applications, which “shall be subject to this Court’s approval,” the proposed order was modified. The Order entered by the Court concluded:

ORDERED, that, notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein or in the Engagement Letter, all of Lazard’s fees and expenses in this case, including without limitation the Restructuring Fee, the Sale Transaction Fee and the Financing Fee (each as defined in the Engagement Letter), shall be subject to approval by this Court under the standard set forth in Section 328(a) of the Bankruptcy Code, the Bankruptcy *541 Rules, the Local Rules and any other applicable orders of this Court; provided however; that the Restructuring Fee shall also be subject to approval by this court under the standard set forth in section 330(a) of the Bankruptcy Code; and it is farther
ORDERED, that, during the pen-dency of this Chapter 11 case, this Court shall retain exclusive jurisdiction to construe and enforce the terms of the Application, the Engagement Letter, the Indemnification Letter and this order.

A. Fee Request

Lazard’s Final Fee Application requests an allowance of $8.1 million based upon flat fee of $200,000 per month for thirteen months and a Restructuring Fee of $5.5 million. While the Fee Auditor’s report analyzed the requested fees under section 328(a), stating he could find no intervening improvident circumstances that triggered that provision of section 328(a), 4 the Fee Auditor recognized that Lazard’s fees were subject to review and approval under section 330(a).

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324 B.R. 538, 54 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 265, 2005 Bankr. LEXIS 798, 44 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 204, 2005 WL 1077560, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-northwestern-corp-deb-2005.