ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : Attorney Fees Top $120,000 --for Starters

Private attorneys representing three top Orange County employees in the ongoing financial crisis have billed the county more than $120,000 in fees and expenses, according to documents released Friday.

The lawyers for resigned Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron, his top deputy Matthew R. Raabe and elected Auditor-Controller Steve E. Lewis will be reimbursed by the county for work on class-action civil lawsuits and inquiries by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission and a special state Senate committee.

The county has refused to foot the bill for the lawyers’ work on any criminal investigations.

County claims manager Dennis Bunker said the attorney bills have not yet been paid. And there could be more invoices coming because Lewis’ and Raabe’s lawyers have so far submitted bills only through Dec. 31.

The Board of Supervisors decided last month to curtail payment for Citron’s and Raabe’s attorneys, citing a state law that allows a public agency to forgo payment of legal fees for its employees in cases involving fraud.

The county has estimated that it will spend $12.1 million by June paying attorneys, accountants and other consultants in connection with the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

That includes about $3 million for the county’s bankruptcy attorneys from the Los Angeles firm Stutman, Treister & Glatt, which charges up to $435 an hour, and $2.5 million for attorneys from Howrey & Simon, which bills up to $395 an hour, for litigation against the investment giant Merrill Lynch.

Citron, Raabe and Lewis each have lawyers with lower price tags.

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The biggest bill came from David W. Wiechert, Citron’s attorney, but that may only be because Wiechert submitted his expenses through January, while the others stopped at Dec. 31.

Wiechert, who was hired five days after the longtime treasurer resigned in disgrace, charges $240 an hour. His bill totaled $60,521.08, including $579 in air fare and hotel expenses for a trip to Sacramento, where Citron testified in January before the state Senate panel.

Wiechert’s bill says he worked for more than 240 hours on the case in December and January. Of that, 103 hours and 48 minutes were spent in conferences or telephone calls with Citron. Other time is attributed to conversations with county attorneys, attorneys for other parties in the case and legal research.

Wiechert also billed for about three hours spent talking with reporters about the case. Attorneys for Raabe and Lewis also noted in their invoices time spent with the press.

A private investigator also working for Citron charges $75 an hour and submitted a bill for $903; a second attorney working with Wiechert costs $135 an hour and charged a total of $10,564.94.

Wiechert also submitted expense forms from a Chicago investment bank he consulted in the case, for a total of $8,625. Among those who worked with him are his sister, Lisa Wiechert, a securities expert, according to the documents.

A team of lawyers from the Los Angeles firm of Bird, Marella, Boxer, Wolpert & Matz submitted a total bill of $49,827.03 for their work representing Raabe, who was suspended last month after accountants discovered that millions of dollars had been improperly shifted within the county’s massive investment portfolio.

Terry W. Bird, Raabe’s lead attorney, charges $300 an hour. Two others from his firm charge $275, and a fourth staffer bills $75 an hour. Bird included three free hours of work in his request for reimbursement, but his firm charged the county for a total of 177 1/2 hours in December. The firm also asked submitted about $1,000 in expenses for copies, parking, gas and typing.

Lewis’s lawyer, Arthur Greenberg, charged the county $9,468 for about 50 hours work between Dec. 9 and Dec. 31, plus $1,037.35 in expenses for photocopying, computer research, messengers, air freight, telephone and legal services.