A law firm that represented a half-dozen sickened Ground Zero workers doesn’t want to share any of its fees with the firm that handled more than 10,000 other cases.
In court papers filed yesterday, lawyer Paul Hoffman said he’s “appalled” that Worby Groner Edelman & Napoli Bern is seeking a piece of the estimated $5,000 his firm will collect from its clients’ settlements.
“Worby/Napoli stands to make about $140 million in fees for for their efforts on their own clients’ cases. I can’t begrudge them that,” Hoffman’s Manhattan federal court filing says.
“But I can begrudge them seeking even more money from those of us who ably represented our clients, as well.”
The Worby firm claims it’s entitled to five percent of the fees earned by other plaintiffs’ lawyers because it “carried the laboring oar” during negotiations that netted a $662.5 million-plus deal.