Brazilian billionaire Alberto Safra, son of the late Joseph Safra—once hailed as the “world’s richest banker”—has won a review of more than $35 million in legal fees charged by US law firm WilmerHale, highlighting the soaring costs of Big Law. In a ruling published on Wednesday, London’s High Court granted Safra a full assessment of the charges, which included a single day’s bill exceeding $162,000 in 2023 alone.
The case underscores the rapidly escalating hourly rates of leading international law firms. When Safra engaged WilmerHale in 2022 for a dispute over his late father’s $23 billion estate, partner rates were quoted as high as $2,100 per hour, with some partners logging 12 to 17-hour workdays. Costs judge Colum Charles Leonard described the invoices as “extremely high, and well outside any ‘run of the mill’ case,” noting that the limited information provided to Safra exacerbated the issue.
WilmerHale’s charges also included substantial travel and accommodation expenses, with one partner billed over $11,000 for a New York to London flight. The court judgment highlighted the combination of steep fees, long hours, and costly expenses as key factors justifying the order for assessment.
The dispute over the Safra family inheritance involved five separate arbitrations and was ultimately settled, but it also reflected broader trends in US legal markets, where hourly rates for top firms have surged to near $3,000 due to higher interest rates, increased dealmaking, and international expansion. Safra had also instructed litigation firm Quinn Emanuel, which quoted comparable hourly rates during the same period, demonstrating the pervasive cost pressures in high-stakes international legal battles.
