The Arlington-based Texas Rangers are scheduled to play Game 1 of the World Series in San Francisco on Oct. 27. But another type of action should happen soon in the bankruptcy case of the team's former owner. If a federal bankruptcy judge approves fee applications filed recently, three firms that represented parties in the bankruptcy case of Texas Rangers Baseball Partners (TRBP) will collect some $6.1 million in fees and expenses. On Oct. 12, Weil Gotshal & Manges filed a first and final fee application for the period of May 24 though Aug.12 in In Re: Texas Rangers Baseball Partners in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas in Fort Worth. In its fee application, Weil Gotshal seeks compensation for $5.47 million in fees and expenses — some $5.1 million of that is for fees at an hourly blended rate, excluding paralegals, of $628.11. Weil Gotshal provided services to TRBP, the debtor. In Weil Gotshal’s application, the firm notes that it helped its client “in achieving confirmation of a consensual plan that had been modified, with Weil’s assistance, to address objections from, among others, the Lenders, the committee of unsecured creditors . . . and the United States Trustee for the Northern District of Texas.” The firm also notes in its application that it played a “significant and an important role in the sale process” and TRBP’s “expeditious emergence from chapter 11.” Fort Worth’s Forshey & Prostok, which served as TRBP’s conflicts counsel, filed its fee application on Oct. 13, seeking a total of $541,580 in fees and expenses for the period of May 24 through Aug. 12 — $526,000 of that being fees at a blended hourly rate, excluding paraprofessionals, of $425.24. K&L Gates, which served as counsel to the official unsecured creditors committee, filed its fee application Oct. 12, seeking $228,883 in fees and expenses — $209, 674 of that in fees at a blended rate, including paraprofessionals, of $317.50. K&L Gates is seeking the compensation and reimbursement for June 3 through Aug. 12.
-- Miriam Rozen
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