Several requests made by advisers seeking to work for the Dewey & LeBoeuf estate have raised the ire of U.S. Trustee Tracy Hope Davis, who argues in an objection filed with the court Friday that—among other things—some of the advisers failed to adequately prove they do not have inherent conflicts in representing the defunct law firm and that several appear to be playing redundant roles in the bankruptcy.

Law firms including Proskauer Rose and lead bankruptcy counsel Albert Togut’s firm, Togut, Segal & Segal, along with restructuring firms Zolfo Cooper and Development Specialists Inc., and crisis communications firm Sitrick and Company, are among those that filed applications seeking bankruptcy court approval to work on the Dewey case on June 15. Many of the firms have already begun working for the bankrupt firm’s estate and are seeking retroactive approval, with hourly rates for those seeking court approval rising as high as $935 for Togut and $895 for Sitrick.

Among the main objections raised by Hope Davis: Dewey has failed “to establish how the retention of a communications consultant in a liquidating case is necessary to the administration of, or beneficial to the completion of this case.” She also suggests that the work being performed by Proskauer and D.C. law firm Keightley & Ashner—both of which are described in court filings as working on issues related to the firm’s pensions—is redundant (to a lesser extent, she also questions whether Proskauer’s other functions duplicate what Togut is doing). Other advisers whose efforts may overlap, according to Hope Davis, are DSI, Zolfo Cooper, and collections firm On-Site Associates. 

The trustee’s 56-page filing raises additional “serious concerns” about how Proskauer can ethically work on the bankruptcy given that it hired a large group of Dewey lawyers and staff as the firm went under (the most notable of those hires being bankruptcy specialist Martin Bienenstock, a former member of Dewey’s top leadership team). In its application, Proskauer addressed that issue, but said it had constructed an “ethical screen” to block the former Dewey lawyers from communicating with those working on the firm’s bankruptcy.

Hope Davis also expresses reservations about the use of retainers by some of the firms and the timing of payment to On-Site, whose application says that it should be paid before submitting fee applications. She also notes that many of the applications—including those submitted by Brown Rudnick, which is seeking approval to work for the unsecured creditors committee, Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman, which hopes to represent the official committee of former partners, and several of the firms cited elsewhere in the objection—fail to meet certain technical requirements.

“Absent modifications of these provisions or absent supplemental affidavits being filed to address the disclosure inquiries, the Retention Applications should not be approved,” the objection states.

Representatives for Togut, Proskauer, Keightley, Zolfo, Brown Rudnick, Kasowitz, and On-Site did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday. Thomas Mulligan, a member of Sitrick and Company, had no immediate comment.

William Brandt, president of DSI, says the filing appears well founded and raises clarification questions that DSI has no problem addressing. As to any possible duplication of efforts, Brandt says his firm’s role—which is coming to a close—has been completely separate from those of Zolfo and the others. DSI has worked only logistical issues such as how to deal with leases, artwork, personal property, and records retention, Brandt says.

Hope Davis’s objection notes that in a budget approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn to cover the six weeks ending July 31, $448,000 has been site aside for On-Site, $3.53 million for the other professionals working for Dewey, $753,000 for creditors’ committees’ professionals, and $2.26 million for lenders’ professionals. The budget also provides $58,000 a week for the two-person dissolution committee composed of former Dewey general counsel Janis Meyer and executive partner Stephen Horvath III.