One of the Georgia banks that failed last year—Haven Trust Bancorp Inc.— selected Bryan Cave Powell Goldstein to provide legal advice on its liquidation proceedings in bankruptcy court.
Bryan Cave partner Wendy Hagenau is listed as lead counsel to Haven Trust Bancorp in documents filed on Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
On Dec. 12, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed the receiver of Haven Trust Bank. BB&T Corp. of Winston-Salem, N.C., acquired Haven Trust’s $506 million in deposits.
Haven Trust agreed to pay Bryan Cave a retainer of $30,000 for past and future legal work, according to a court filing. The law firm had received $26,534.83 of that bill as on Monday.
The law firm apparently had a difficult time estimating how much it should bill Haven Trust.
“In arriving at a flat fee to charge the debtor, it is difficult to estimate the amount of time which the firm may have to spend in the future in this case given that this is not a routine Chapter 7,” Hagenau wrote in a statement and disclosure of compensation filed on Monday.
“Especially in this environment, there are various potential regulatory agencies which may investigate the Debtor,” Hagenau wrote.