Pro Bono Holocaust Huckster: Case Closed!

Editor's note: For more on Burt Neuborne and the House of Hucksters click here.



Billing Holocaust Victims
Editorial: New York Times | 06.29.2006

The success of Holocaust survivors in winning a $1.25 billion settlement from Swiss banks, which they accused of helping the Nazis steal Jewish holdings, was a small bright spot in that tragic piece of history. Burt Neuborne, a New York University law professor who represented the survivors, was rightly praised for his part in the effort. But now a controversy has arisen over Mr. Neuborne's bill of more than $4 million. The dollar amounts are troubling, and so are the slipshod hourly records that Mr. Neuborne submitted.

After his work in helping win the settlement, Mr. Neuborne took the lead in helping the court decide how to allocate the money among Holocaust victims worldwide. It was an impossibly difficult task, and unsurprisingly, not everyone was happy with the result. A group of survivors who are dissatisfied are challenging his bill.

Mr. Neuborne, who worked pro bono on the first stage of the case, is charging for his current work, and billing at $700 an hour — money that will come from the sum available to the survivors. Top corporate lawyers sometimes charge that much, or more. But Holocaust victims are not Exxon Mobil. It is an unseemly rate to be asking, made worse by the fact that Mr. Neuborne is reserving his right to seek an "excellence" multiplier that could, in theory, raise his hourly rate to $875 or more.

Mr. Neuborne, who received more than $4 million in fees in a previous Holocaust case, no doubt worked very hard, but his time records were unacceptable. They included, for example, 30.5 hours of work on one day, and 25 on another, and often had large blocks of time with only vague descriptions of what he did. He has since agreed to reduce his total hours, though he insists he worked all the time he originally claimed, even if not on the days he stated. The more than $4 million he is now seeking reflects those reduced hours.

The survivors who say that Mr. Neuborne should have done all his work pro bono are asking too much. No one should be expected to do arduous, complicated legal work without pay. But when a lawyer's fee is excessive or inadequately supported, courts should step in. U.S. Magistrate Judge James Orenstein, who is reviewing his fee request, should scrutinize it carefully, and keep the interest of the victims firmly in mind.









Pro Bono Holocaust Huckster: Case Closed! (06.29.2006)

The Lobby: It's Not Either / Or. (05.01.2006)

Israeli civil libertarian's introduction to German edition of Beyond Chutzpah. (03.27.2006)

Communication for Middle East Journal. (02.19.2006)

Why an Economic Boycott of
Israel is Justified. (01.14.2006)

Alleged Errors in Beyond Chutzpah. (2005)

MEMRI NAZIS (again) (10.23.2006)



New evidence of old lies (2005)
Under the heading DIABOLICAL PLOTS, I stated in Beyond Chutzpah...

Shocking revelation in the London Jewish Chronicle. ("The man on the left earns $437,811 a year handling Shoah claims. So why are so many survivors pleading poverty?"; 05.30.2006)

Liar, liar, Pants on fire.
(w/ full English translation of orginal article from Israeli press + image from Israeli newspaper (2005))

Unpublished op-ed on Gaza withdrawal. (September 2005)



Video: Is Criticism of Israel Anti-Semitic?

"...quietly fill the hall with those who cannot be influenced by Finkelstein's rhetoric" (Sat, 12 Mar 2005 17:18:01 EST)



An Introduction to the Israel-Palestine Conflict (Update: September 2002)

Securing Occupation: The Real Meaning of Wye River Memorandum

Mp3: Back to Basics: Expulsion -- The Next Stage of the 'Peace Process' (2002)

First the Carrot, Then the Stick: Behind the Carnage in Palestine



Articles and Reviews Related to The Holocaust Industry

The Jewish Week: "Survivors Balking At Lawyer's Fee" (More on pro bono Holocaust huckster)



Preface to German edition of The Rise and Fall of Palestine

Postscript to German edition of The Rise and Fall of Palestine

Will THE HOLOCAUST INDUSTRY Incite Anti-Semitism?

Lessons of Holocaust Compensation

Thought Police At Work

Video/Mp3: Democracy Now! Debate: Part II

Dershowitz berates National Catholic Reporter (w/Neve Gordon's & Finkelstein's response) (2005)

The Chronicle of Higher Education: Calif. Press Will Publish Controversial Book on Israel. Legal wrangling and disputes over the author's claims plagued 'Beyond Chutzpah' (2005)

The Glove Does Fit (2003)

Middle East Studies Association Salutes University of California Press for Publishing Beyond Chutzpah (MESA ACADEMIC FREEDOM AWARDS 2005)

The Chronicle of Higher Education: "U. of California Press to Publish Book That Alan Dershowitz Has Criticized as Anti-Semitic" (2005)

Dershowitz Exposed Yet Again: The Critique of Pure Cant
(includes title page image of the one and only item of Kant in Yiddish in Harvard's collection (2003))

The Dershowitz Hoax: 13 Articles (2003)

The Harvard Crimson: Crimson Cuts Columnist for Lifting Material (2006)

Alan Dershowitz Exposed: What if a Harvard Student Did This?