Estate Lawyer's Fee, $1,050 per Hour

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

An attorney from a politically connected law firm is charging more than $1,000 an hour to perform legal services for the estate of Glen Campbell, the famed singer and songwriter who passed away a little over two years ago.
A fee request filed in Davidson Probate Court in Nashville shows Jay L. Cooper of the Greenberg Traurig LLC (GT Law) has been charging $1,050 per hour for the services performed for the estate. The details were included in a six-page filing this week.
The motion seeks total payments of $221,793.85 and includes billings for Cooper, his son Todd and other Greenberg Traurig lawyers and support staff. Jay Cooper's hourly rate was $980 in 2017 when he first was assigned to the case. He has charged $1,050 since 2018. His son's fee was $650 per hour.
The bill covers services provided by the firm from June 8, 2017 through Oct. 23 of this year.
The fee approval request was submitted by Campbell's widow, Kimberly Campbell, who is also the administrator of the estate.
Although the filing includes an itemization of the services provided, many of the details were redacted. A footnote states that if the judge requires additional information, a non-redacted version will be submitted "in camera," meaning that it will not be available to the general public.
The filing states that Cooper's skills were needed because the work relating to the estate's interests "involved complicated legal issues related to entertainment law and intellectual property law."
The motion also cites the fact that Cooper had served as an advisor to the late singer for more than 30 years and is "familiar with Mr. Campbell's career, assets and legal issues."
The motion specifically cites divorce agreements from prior marriages and indicates that a divorce agreement mandates that certain royalty payments be made to unnamed third parties.
The itemization refers to a "life" film and a museum agreement and efforts to develop "potential income generating projects for the estate."
Cooper's assigned duties include overseeing "copyright, royalty interests and licensing Campbell's name, likeness and image. The fees, the motion adds, were consistent with those charged by other Los Angeles attorneys.
The Greenberg firm is based in Miami area but Cooper works out of their West Coast office. The firm once employed Jack Abramoff who was indicted and convicted for mail fraud, conspiracy to bribe a public official and tax evasion. He served 43 months in federal prison and was released Dec. 3, 2010.