Texas Supreme Court Examines $48,000 An Hour Legal Fee in H.L. Hunt Case
The heir of Texas oil tycoon H.L. Hunt involved in a bitter decade-long dispute with his son over control of a $1 billion trust wants the Texas Supreme Court to declare illegal his lawyer’s request to be paid $48,000 an hour for his legal services, reports The Houston Chronicle.
Janet Elliott of The Texas Lawbook writes that attorney Gregory Shamoun claims to have made a 50 percent contingency agreement with Albert Hill Jr. to settle the high-dollar family fight.
Then, when Shamoun negotiated a global settlement for $40.5 million that left Hill Jr. in exclusive control of the family trust, Hill Jr. refused to pay the 50 percent. He claimed the legal fee was ludicrously too high, Shamoun sued and won a $7.25 million award – or an estimated $48,000 an hour – from a jury.
