Former top Trump diplomat settles legal fee fight for $1.1 million
The U.S. State Department has agreed to pay $1.1 million to settle a lawsuit over legal fees sought by a former top U.S. official who testified against President Donald Trump during his first impeachment.
Gordon Sondland, who served as Trump's ambassador to the European Union, accused the State Department in a 2021 lawsuit of violating an oral agreement to pay his legal bills, which he said were $1.8 million.
Sondland, a wealthy Republican donor and hotelier, testified to lawmakers about Trump's interactions with Ukraine in 2019, ahead of the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Sondland was fired in 2020.
Sondland was represented at the time of Trump's impeachment by a team from Paul Hastings, including Washington litigator Robert Luskin and another top partner Kwame Manley.
The then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had denied ever agreeing to pay Sondland's legal tab.
In January, Sondland's case seeking fees went to a bench trial in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, but the sides reached a settlement before any final order. The State Department paid $1.1 million on March 31, records show.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
'Ambassador Sondland simply sought to hold the government accountable for the clear and unequivocal commitments made to him by former Secretary of State Pompeo and other State Department officials,' Sondland's attorney, Mark Barondess, said in a statement.
Barondess called the settlement "a rare example of the government being bound to an oral agreement." He said courts enforce such agreements "only under very strict conditions and are generally reluctant to do so unless the facts are unusually compelling."
At trial, Manley, who is Paul Hastings' global litigation head, testified that the work the firm did for Sondland was extensive and urgent.
'He knew he was not going to look to the yellow pages or to someone on TV to hire for this,' said Manley, who told the court that he bills at about $1,900 an hour now.
In congressional investigations and crisis management, Manley said, "you drop everything, you work 16 hours a day."
-- In other legal fee news, a U.S. bankruptcy judge on Wednesday rejected White & Case's $430,000 bill for less than two weeks of work in the bankruptcy of crypto company Terraform Labs, saying the law firm was never formally retained to represent Terraform's junior creditors.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Shannon, who is overseeing Terraform Labs' Chapter 11 filing, said during a Wednesday court hearing in Wilmington, Delaware, that lawyers must be formally retained and submit fee applications if they want to be paid from funds provided by a bankrupt company.
Terraform is the company behind the stablecoin TerraUSD, which collapsed and roiled cryptocurrency markets in 2022.
Spokespeople for White & Case, Terraform and Weil, Gotshal & Manges — which is representing Terraform Labs in the bankruptcy — did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
-- Brown Rudnick said Friday it will pay about $8 million to resolve a dispute over the law firm's bankruptcy work for exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui, who was convicted on fraud charges in the U.S. last year for stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from online followers.
Guo retained Brown Rudnick to represent him when he filed for personal bankruptcy in February 2022. Guo's bankruptcy case was turned over months later to a Chapter 11 trustee — Luc Despins of Paul Hastings — after creditors argued that Guo was hiding assets and not complying with court orders.
Despins said Friday that Guo's creditors had legal claims against Brown Rudnick over its advice and Guo's conduct in the early days of the bankruptcy. But a settlement was the best option, providing money for creditors without the risk or delay of litigation, according to the trustee.
Brown Rudnick said in a statement that it "unequivocally denies" the trustee's legal claims but was pleased to resolve the matter. The firm will return $948,000 that it received as a retainer payment and pay an additional $7 million, according to the settlement agreement.
A spokesperson for Paul Hastings did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Latham, Northwestern seek fees from conservative group in bias case
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
10 minutes ago
- The Independent
Asian shares mostly gain as eyes turn to meetings at the White House and Jackson Hole
Asian shares were mostly higher Monday after U.S. stocks edged back from their record levels on Friday. U.S. futures were little changed as investors watched for developments in the Ukraine crisis following a summit between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin that brought no breakthroughs. Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.9% to 43.776.38, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.3% to 25,344.48. The Shanghai Composite index jumped 1.2% to 3,740.50. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was virtually unchanged, while the Kospi in South Korea declined 1.3% to 3,184.17. Trump was preparing to meet later Monday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders in Washington. The European vanguard were not included in Trump's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin last Friday. They are seeking to present a united front in safeguarding Ukraine and the continent from any widening aggression from Moscow. An annual meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, of top central bankers later this week is also drawing attention. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell is due to speak Friday at the economic policy conference. Expectations have been building that the Fed will cut interest rates at its next meeting in September, though mixed reports on the U.S. economy have undercut those bets somewhat. One report Friday said shoppers boosted their spending at U.S. retailers last month, while another said manufacturing in New York state unexpectedly grew. A third said industrial production across the country shrank last month, when economists were looking for modest growth. Yet another report suggested sentiment among U.S. consumers is worsening because of worries about inflation, when economists expected to see a slight improvement. On Wall Street, UnitedHealth Group jumped 12% on Friday after famed investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway said it bought nearly 5 million shares of the insurer during the spring, valued at $1.57 billion. Buffett is known for trying to buy good stocks at affordable prices, and UnitedHealth's halved for the year by the end of July because of a run of struggles. Berkshire Hathaway's own stock slipped 0.4%. Applied Materials helped lead Wall Street lower with a decline of 14.1% even though it reported better results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The focus was on the company's forecast for a drop in revenue during the current quarter. Its products help manufacture semiconductors and advanced displays, and CEO Gary Dickerson pointed to a 'dynamic macroeconomic and policy environment, which is creating increased uncertainty and lower visibility in the near term, including for our China business.' Sandisk fell 4.6% despite reporting a profit for the latest quarter that blew past analysts' expectations. Investors focused instead on the data storage company's forecast for profit in the current quarter, which came up short of Wall Street's. On Friday, the S&P 500 fell 0.3% to 6,449.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.1% higher, to 44,946.12. The Nasdaq composite sank 0.4% to 21,622.98. In other dealings early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil shed 2 cents to $62.82 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, gave up 6 cents to $65.79 per barrel. The U.S. dollar rose to 147.38 Japanese yen from 147.18 yen. The euro was unchanged at $1.1703.
Reuters
10 minutes ago
- Reuters
Oil prices steady as Russia supply concerns ease after Trump-Putin meet
SINGAPORE, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Oil prices were largely unchanged on Monday after a drop in early trade, as the United States exerted no further pressure on Russia to end the Ukraine war through measures to disrupt its oil exports following a meeting of the leaders of both nations. Brent crude futures dropped 6 cents, or 0.09%, to $65.79 a barrel by 0342 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $62.82 a barrel, up 2 cents, or 0.03%. U.S. President Donald Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday and emerged more aligned with Moscow on seeking a peace deal instead of a ceasefire first. Trump will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and European leaders on Monday to strike a quick peace deal to end Europe's deadliest war in 80 years. On Friday, Trump said he did not immediately need to consider retaliatory tariffs on countries such as China for buying Russian oil but might have to "in two or three weeks", cooling concerns about a disruption in Russian supply. "A non-outcome was largely priced in, the market remains in wait-and-see, more in a bearish context, if more Russian barrels can arrive into the global crude supply pool should hostilities end in Ukraine," said independent energy analyst Gaurav Sharma. China, the world's biggest oil importer, is the largest buyer of Russian oil, followed by India. "What was primarily in play were the secondary tariffs targeting the key importers of Russian energy, and President Trump has indeed indicated that he will pause pursuing incremental action on this front, at least for China," RBC Capital analyst Helima Croft said in a note. "The status quo remains largely intact for now," Croft said, adding that Moscow would not walk back territorial demands while Ukraine and some European leaders would balk at the land-for-peace deal. Investors are also watching for clues from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's comments at this week's Jackson Hole meeting regarding the path of interest rate cuts that could boost stocks to further records. "It's likely he will remain noncommittal and data-dependent, especially with one more payroll and Consumer Price Index (CPI) report before the September 17 FOMC meeting," IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said in a note.
Reuters
10 minutes ago
- Reuters
EUROPE Geopolitics dominates, before Fed takes the stage
A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Wayne Cole. You know it's crazy times, when speculation Putin sent his body double to Alaska doesn't sound so outlandish. What does seem clear is that President Trump has shifted back to echoing Moscow's line, tweeting Kremlin talking points about Crimea and Zelenskiy. Putin's position seems to be that Ukraine should give up all the land Russia has taken, and much that it has failed to take in more than three years of fighting. This has been repeatedly ruled out by Zelenskiy and European leaders, and it's notable they will be by his side in Washington when he meets Trump later today. Markets have judged there is a diminished threat of further U.S. sanctions or tariffs on Russian oil exports, and oil prices are down modestly with Brent off 0.3%. Share markets are mostly firmer as Japan and Taiwan make more records, and Chinese blue chips scale a 10-month top. European stock futures are up 0.2% or so, as are Wall St futures. Valuations have been underpinned by a solid earnings season as Goldman notes S&P 500 EPS grew 11% on the year and 58% of companies raised their full-year guidance. This week's results will provide some colour on the health of consumer spending with Home Depot (HD.N), opens new tab, Target (TGT.N), opens new tab, Lowe's (LOW.N), opens new tab and Walmart (WMT.N), opens new tab all reporting. For monetary policy the main event will be the Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole jamboree where Chair Powell speaks on the economic outlook and the Fed's policy framework on Friday, though there doesn't seem to be a Q&A as yet. ECB President Christine Lagarde and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey are on panel discussions. Futures are about 85% priced for a Fed rate cut in September so anything less than dovish from Powell would be a setback for debt markets. While Fed expectations are anchoring short-term yields, the long end continues to fret about inflation, budget deficit and the politicisation of monetary policy, so steepening the yield curve. European bond yields have also been on the rise, perhaps in part on a realisation of how much governments are going to have to borrow to cover increased defence spending. Key developments that could influence markets on Monday: - EU trade figures for June, US NAHB housing survey
