From the Sun-Times:

Lawyerly largess: $10 million for George Ryan defense

November 14, 2005

BY ERIC HERMAN SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
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Former Gov. George Ryan has more than 10 million reasons to be grateful to Winston & Strawn.

The Winston firm is working pro bono -- meaning no fees are being charged -- to defend Ryan against federal corruption charges. The trial began Sept. 19, and is expected to last through January.

Representing Ryan will cost the law firm more than $10 million in forgone legal fees, according to Chairman Jim Thompson and another partner at the firm.

"We would be lucky" if the cost stayed as low as $10 million, said Thompson, a former governor himself.

Lawyers at Winston & Strawn, one of the city's largest firms, will not know the total cost until the trial ends.

Accounts vary as to whether Winston ever expected Ryan to be a paying client. But sources at the firm agree it quickly became clear he would not be able to pay. The defense team, made up of roughly a dozen lawyers, includes star trial lawyer Dan Webb.

Now, some at Winston fear they could receive lower payouts and bonuses this year because so much time is being spent on a non-paying case, sources at the firm said.

Law firms are businesses. Partners typically are paid based on the business they bring in and the hours they bill. Junior attorneys -- associates -- receive discretionary bonuses based on their work.

"There are people there, senior partners, who are unhappy because they're not going to get the right kind of comp[ensation] this year," said recruiter Jim Kilmer.

Kilmer added that his clients "have instructed me to go steal their guys. And I've told them I don't think they'll leave, because it's a one-year aberration."

Worries are strongest among those working on the Ryan case. "We've gotten repeated assurances that we're not going to get screwed," said a lawyer on the case.

Thompson said he has received no complaints from his partners. Lawyers on the Ryan trial will be paid as though they had been doing billable work, he said.

"All the partners of the firm are sharing this pain," Thompson said.

It could hurt. Winston & Strawn had 2004 revenues of $516.5 million, according to American Lawyer magazine. If the Ryan trial ends up costing $20 million, it will take 4 percent off Winston's top line.

The longer the trial runs, the more expensive it will be. Webb charges $700 an hour, according to legal sources. Every hour he spends on Ryan is an hour Winston is not getting paid. Webb said he spends 60 hours a week on Ryan, and still does work for other clients.

"I'll be working Saturday and Sunday on the George Ryan case," Webb said last week.

Other Winston partners on the case include Bradley Lerman and Julie Bauer, both with billing rates over $500 an hour.

Ryan has a legal defense fund that reportedly had raised about $475,000 by summer.

Part of Webb's defense of Ryan rests on the former governor's lack of personal wealth. Ryan gets by on a pension and Social Security payments, according to Webb.

Thompson said the firm is defending Ryan "because Gov. Ryan asked Dan Webb to defend him ... I would regard this as a very important case. It involves the trial of a former governor of the state."

(Thompson is a director of Hollinger International, the company that owns the Sun-Times.)

Ryan expressed gratitude. "I'm delighted they're doing it," he said.