Tue March 16, 2004 6:35 AM DETROIT (Reuters) - Bankruptcy court examiner Neal Batson said on Monday that he and his law firm, Alston & Bird LLP, will receive about $90 million for his recently concluded 18-month probe into the financial meltdown of Enron Corp.
Batson, who spoke to reporters after an address to the Detroit Economic Club, acknowledged that $90 million seemed "expensive."
But he added that the amount paled in comparison with the more than $10 billion in claims against the bankrupt energy giant, whose collapse in November 2001 was the first of several scandals that rocked Wall Street and undermined confidence in corporate America.
"I feel like that, while it was expensive, we brought value and you will continue to see value brought to the creditors and other parties in interest in the estate," Batson said.
"Had we had the benefit of those who did many of these deals, and elected to take the fifth amendment, we could have done it a lot quicker and a lot cheaper," he added.
He was referring to former Enron officers who have failed to respond to questioning about the planning and execution of dubious off-balance-sheet deals at Enron.
Batson said money from the Enron case paid to him personally, and to the Atlanta-based firm in which he is a partner, included $80 million in fees. He said Alston & Bird would also receive about $15 million for expenses stemming from a probe into what is probably the most infamous bankruptcy in U.S. history.
Part of the $15 million will be paid to a committee of debtors and creditors, Batson said.
Batson was appointed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York as examiner for the Enron case. He has stirred some controversy for having asked for immunity from any subpoenas that could force him to be a witness in future Enron lawsuits.
In the past, clients of Alston & Bird have included some of the same banks now accused of knowing about fraud in transactions they helped Enron set up.