DOJ Balks at J&J Unit’s Plan to Hire Katyal at $2,500-an-Hour (1)

The Department of Justice’s bankruptcy watchdog is opposing a bankrupt Johnson & Johnson unit’s proposal to retain former acting solicitor general Neal Katyal at nearly $2,500 an hour to work on its Chapter 11 case.

LTL Management LLC, which was created by the healthcare giant to house and limit its liability from its talc products, is proposing to retain Katyal, a partner at Hogan Lovells US LLP, at a rate as high as $2,465 an hour, the US Trustee said in its objection.

Hogan Lovells’ hourly rates for its partners are “significantly higher” than the rates of the seven ...