The $1.1 million in fees that Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher billed to New Jersey for the firm’s George Washington Bridge closure investigation may be just the first installment. Acting state Attorney General John Hoffman told legislators on May 12 that Gibson Dunn cut its hourly rate from $650 to $350 investigating Gov. Chris Christie’s administration’s possible involvement in last fall’s bridge-access lane closures. Asked whether the firm was continuing to bill, he said, “I assume so.”
RECORD FINE FOR GM
General Motors Co. will pay a record $35 million fine for waiting years to notify federal investigators about an airbag flaw that has led to at least 13 deaths. Although the fine — the maximum allowed by law — is the biggest civil penalty ever for failing to report a safety defect promptly, Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx called it “a rounding error” and asked Congress to raise the top penalty to $300 million, an amount he called “attention-grabbing and capable of creating a deterrent value for automakers.”
