MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

June 8, 2012

Legal fees and expenses approved to date in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy are approaching $4 million, according to court records. And hundreds of thousands dollars in additional fees are pending approval or have yet to be filed.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley called the fees “astronomical” at a hearing this week and threatened to bring in a mediator if the parties could not come to some agreement in the coming weeks.

“The legal fees in this case are over the top. . . . And the pleadings being filed . . . don’t show me that we are getting to a resolution,” said Kelley. “It looks to me like it’s all-out war.”

Assistant U.S. Trustee David Asbach echoed Kelley’s concerns, calling the fees a sign of a “scorched earth” legal battle.