A Costly Missed Deadline

The Wall Street Journal Law Blog is reporting on a costly missed deadline. Morrison Foerster, one of the largest law firms in the country, obtained a judgment on behalf of its client, Toshiba America. The judge gave Toshiba 14 days to submit a motion for attorneys’ fees. Unfortunately for the firm, the firm’s courier became stuck in traffic and was 1 minute late in filing the motion. As a result, the application for approximately $1 million in attorneys’ fees was denied. A copy of the order is here.

In addition to the deadline issue, the case also presents questions about how to proceed in lawsuits. Looking at the underlying facts, it appears that Toshiba spent $996,865.83 in attorneys’ fees to obtain a recovery of $482,430.00. There are a lot things we don’t know (Was this case important for non-economic reasons? Was the agreement a contingent fee agreement? etc), but it appears there are other questions there for Toshiba to look at.