U.K. Judge Reprimands Allen & Overy for Litigation Bill

[WSJ_law_blog]

One case. Two associates. 15 months. 4,540 billable hours.

From what we know of associate life, those numbers are well within the realm of possibility. But Mr. Justice Floyd, a High Court judge in London, said that, in light of Allen & Overy’s total bill of £5.2 million ($10.32 million) for its successful defense of Research In Motion, you’d expect the firm’s associates to be able to recite “all the documents in the case by heart.” While RIM won its patent dispute with Visto, a U.S.-based wireless company, Floyd refused to grant RIM its attorneys fees. Here are reports from the FT and Legal Week.

“The picture summoned up by this bill of costs is one which is totally unfamiliar to anyone who has been involved in economically conducted patent litigation,” Floyd said, adding that he was bound to prevent a party from recovering “unnecessary and unreasonable’’ expenses, even in the U.K.’s “loser pays” system. Allen & Overy outspent Visto’s lawyers at Taylor Wessing by a margin of five-to-one on an action that Floyd reportedly characterized as “not a particularly heavy” patent case.

According to the FT, Allen & Overy said it was instructed to leave “no stone unturned” in defending its client, and its legal costs represented a tiny fraction of the financial risk to RIM’s business posed by the litigation.

LB readers, whaddya think? Is $10.32 million for a successful patent defense reasonable or not?