Debtors’ lead counsel rates continued to outpace inflation in 1Q26, with blended hourly rates in Chapter 11 cases rising to USD 1,481, up 7.4% quarter over quarter and 8% year over year. Latham & Watkins charged the highest rate of any firm in this report, with one partner billing USD 3,050 per hour for their work on behalf of debtors in the case of Office Properties Income Trust.  

The tables below rank law firms, financial advisors, and investment bankers by fees charged in Chapter 11 cases with more than USD 200m in funded debt. The dataset includes 73 cases filed since the start of 2025 and 40 cases filed in 2024 that hadn’t closed by the end of that year.[1]

Highest blended hourly rates billed by debtors’ lead counsel

Latham & Watkins’ USD 1,992 blended hourly rate in the case of Steward Health Care remains by far the highest blended rate in this report despite the fact that the case closed in July 2025. The rate was an outlier, reflecting Latham’s limited role, with just 464 hours billed compared with nearly 90,000 hours by Weil Gotshal, which had served as lead counsel since the 6 May 2024 petition date. Latham did not join as co-counsel until 2 December 2024.

After Latham, the second highest blended hourly rate was USD 1,715, which was billed by Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison for its work in Party City.

Highest attorney hourly rates billed by debtors’ lead counsel

Latham & Watkins also topped the debtor-side rankings with the highest hourly attorney rate, with one of its partners billing USD 3,050 per hour for Office Properties Income Trust. Kirkland & Ellis came in second as it charged USD 2,975 across four engagements: Anthology, Marelli Automotive Lighting USA, Nine Energy Service, and STG Logistics.

Highest blended hourly rates billed by UCC lead counsel

Jenner & Block led the UCC-side blended rate rankings at USD 1,798 per hour for Conscious Content Media. Like Latham’s engagement on Steward Healthcare, the total number of hours billed was quite small at only 178.

Proskauer Rose followed in second at USD 1,760 for Genesis Healthcare, with Paul Hastings just USD 7 behind at USD 1,753 for LifeScan Global. Proskauer accounted for three of the ten entries overall, also appearing in fourth and ninth with Wellpath Holdings (USD 1,673) and Zachry Holdings (USD 1,604).

Highest attorney hourly rates billed by UCC lead counsel

Jenner & Block led the UCC-side attorney hourly rate rankings at USD 2,875 per hour for Conscious Content Media. Six entries tied for second with an hourly rate of USD 2,795: Paul Hastings for Marelli Automotive, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher across five cases — Office Properties Income Trust, Avenger Flight Group, Sunnova Energy International, Spirit Aviation Holdings, and Azul.

Highest blended hourly rates billed by financial advisors

BDO Consulting Group led the financial advisor blended rate rankings at USD 1,620 per hour for Georgia ProtonCare Center, followed by FTI Consulting at USD 1,501 for Spirit Aviation Holdings, and Alvarez & Marsal at USD 1,205 for H-Food Holdings (Hearthside Food Solutions).

AlixPartners (AP Services) had the most entries on the list with four: Zips Car Wash, DocuData Solutions (Exela Technologies), Party City Holdco and Spirit Aviation Holdings. Largest success fees earned by financial advisors

FTI Consulting led the debtor-side success-fee rankings at USD 6.3m for work on Spirit Aviation Holdings, followed by Alvarez & Marsal at USD 4.0m for Sunnova Energy International.

Ten largest fees billed by investment banks

Guggenheim Securities led the investment bank total fee rankings at USD 36.5m for Azul, followed by Houlihan Lokey at USD 31.0m for Prospect Medical Holdings and PJT Partners at USD 27.0m for Ascend Performance Materials Holdings.

PJT Partners took three of the top ten positions, also appearing in sixth with At Home Group at USD 17.3m and ninth with Kleopatra Finco (Klöckner Pentaplast) at USD 16.3m. 

[1] Specifically, debtors’ lead counsel filed fee applications in 103 cases; UCC lead counsel filed fee applications in 80, financial advisors (including traditional financial advisors and chief restructuring officers) filed fee applications in 99 cases, and investment bankers filed fee applications in 87 cases.