Today is a banner day for mergers-and-acquisitions lawyers. Our big brother takes note of Blackstone Group's gigantic proposed buyout of Equity Office Properties Trust, the nation’s largest office-building owner and manager, for roughly $36 billion ($20 billion plus $16 billion in assumed debt).

And that's not the only deal. The WSJ Law Blog ticks off three more billion-dollar transactions: Bank of America acquiring U.S. Trust, Freeport-McMoRan acquiring Phelps Dodge, and Evraz Group acquiring Oregon Steel Mills.

Biglaw shops are involved in all of these transactions. The lucky law firms: Sidley Austin, Simpson Thacher, Cleary Gottlieb, Howard Rice, Wachtell Lipton, Davis Polk, Debevoise & Plimpton, Covington & Burling, and Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt (of Oregon).

Okay, "lucky" may not be the right term for people who have probably been pulling one all-nighter after another over the past few weeks (or months). But let's look on the bright side: the fees from these deals will be delicious. And they're likely to mean very good associate bonuses for 2006.

How delicious? This is where you come in. For this latest edition of Legal Fee Voyeurism, we'd like to ask you for any information, rumors, or quasi-informed speculation about the fees that firms will be earning on these deals. And, of course, we're always interested in the related subject of associate bonus scuttlebutt.

Please send any such tips our way, by email. Thanks!

The Biggest LBO Ever: Does The Blackstone REIT Deal Mark the Beginning of the End of Public Companies? [DealBreaker]
M&A Mania: Good for the Lawyers! [WSJ Law Blog]

We previously put out a call for juicy info about big-ticket legal fees. Consider that discovery request still pending; you haven't given us much in response.

Instead, we have to rely upon other sources for information about fees. Like NYU law professor Burt Neuborne's five-million-dollar tab for his work for Holocaust survivors, reported in the MSM. Or this latest news, from the AP:

Republican Rep. John Doolittle of California paid an attorney more than $38,000 in recent months to talk to the Justice Department in connection with the Jack Abramoff lobbying investigation, new campaign finance reports show.

A spokeswoman said the money was spent after Doolittle asked his attorney, David Barger [of Williams Mullen], to contact the Justice Department "to further express the congressman's willingness to be helpful and satisfy the Justice Department that the congressman has done nothing wrong."

Interesting. Barger is a very experienced lawyer and former federal prosecutor. We're guessing he bills out at $500 an hour (at least; correct us if we're wrong). That comes out to at least 75 hours worth of work, which is not insignificant. Clearly Barger did more than just have a two-hour sitdown with DOJ lawyers to earn almost $40K in fees.

And Barger isn't Congressman Doolittle's only counsel:

The campaign finance report also shows Doolittle paying $13,000 in legal fees to a second law firm, Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP, that he has used regularly for years.

Wiley Rein & Fielding, of course, is the top-flight, right-leaning D.C. law firm, with excellent connections within the Administration.

It will be interesting to see how this all unfolds. If you know anything, drop us a line.

Doolittle Paid Lawyer to Talk to Agency [Associated Press]
David G. Barger bio [Williams Mullen]
Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP [official website]

Earlier: Legal Fee Voyeurism: Seeking Submissions

Recently we asked you for juicy gossip about gigantic legal fees. We didn't expect to receive a response so quickly. From the WSJ Law Blog:

NYU Law School professor Burt Neuborne worked for nearly eight years to help Holocaust survivors win a $1.25 billion settlement from Swiss banks accused of helping the Nazis steal Jewish property. He then submitted a bill for $4,760,000. The rest, as they say, is controversy.

New York magazine has a feature on the fee flap. A group of Holocaust survivors are furious with Neuborne for charging so much money for his services. Many say they thought Neuborne had taken the case pro bono and that he had said so many times. The executive director of the World Jewish Congress calls the bill a “moral disgrace.” Neuborne already made $4.4 million in a similar suit against German industry.

This got us thinking about other law professors who handle litigation or serve as consultants on the side -- and get paid handsomely for it. A few examples off the top of our head: Laurence Tribe, of Harvard Law School (litigation, esp. appellate litigation); Alan Dershowitz, also of HLS (helping to get rich people out of deep doo-doo); George Priest, of Yale Law School (consulting, expert witness service); Dean Dan Fischel, of the University of Chicago (law and economics consulting).

In the comments to this post -- or by email if you prefer -- please share with us any dirt on this subject. The more specific the information -- dollar figures if you know them (or can guess) -- the better. Thanks!

The Neuborne Fee Flap Takes Center Stage [WSJ Law Blog]
Getting His Due: NYU Law Professor Burt Neuborne Was Hailed as a Hero. Then He Submitted His Bill [New York Magazine]

Earlier: Legal Fee Voyeurism: Seeking Submissions

Last week, the New York Law Journal brought us news of this sizable transaction:

Freescale Semiconductor Inc., the third-largest chipset maker in the nation, has been acquired by a consortium of private equity groups, led by The Blackstone Group and consisting of The Carlyle Group, Texas Pacific Group and Permira Funds. The Austin, Texas company is valued at $17.6 billion; the purchasers will also pay off Freescale's debts, amounting to $1.25 billion, making the total worth of the transaction roughly $19 billion.

Here are the firms involved in the deal, a veritable legal fee bonanza:

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom led representation for the entire consortium, while Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton assisted in advising every group except Blackstone and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson counseled Permira. Palo Alto, Calif.-based Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati represented Freescale.

WOW -- more law firms than you can shake a stick at. This deal's a permanent employment act for corporate lawyers.

And Freescale isn't the only eleven-figure transactions announced in recent weeks. It's small potatoes compared to the $33 billion HCA buyout over the summer.

Now, the important stuff: How much did these firms earn for their work on this transaction -- or any other recent transactions you're aware of?

Unlike the (much larger) fees of investment bankers, the advisory fees of law firms in M&A deals are usually not disclosed in public filings. So if you have any reasonably informed guesses -- or, better yet, actual knowledge -- of the filthy lucre firms have bagged for this or other recent deals, please email us (subject line: "Legal Fee Voyeurism"). Thanks!

NY Partners and Associates Working on Billion Dollar Deals [New York Law Journal]