加州联邦法官本周批准了超过2260万美元的律师费，此前谷歌因其语音激活助手与原告达成6800万美元的隐私和解协议，但法官批评了部分律师的计费标准，包括一项被法院称为“明显不合理”的3000美元/小时的提议费率。圣何塞的美国地区法院法官贝斯·拉布森·弗里曼拒绝接受原告律所Scott + Scott的大卫·斯科特提出的3000美元/小时费率，并将其降至1600美元/小时，以便计算总的集体诉讼律师费奖励。
A California federal judge approved more than $22.6 million in legal fees this week in a $68 million privacy settlement with Google over its voice-activated assistant, but criticized some of the lawyers' billing rates, including a proposed $3,000 hourly rate that the court called "patently unreasonable." US District Judge Beth Labson Freeman in San Jose refused to accept the $3,000 rate for David Scott of plaintiffs' firm Scott + Scott and reduced it to $1,600 an hour for purposes of calculating the overall class action fee award.
“命名合伙人收费高于其他合伙人并不罕见。法院也明白费率会年年上涨。但不会达到3000美元/小时，”弗里曼写道。尽管如此，法院仍批准了律师方要求获得和解基金33%的请求，并称该奖励是合理的，且符合市场行情。
"It is not unusual for named partners to charge more than other partners. And the court is cognizant that rates increase year to year. But not to $3,000 an hour," Freeman wrote. Still, the court granted the lawyers' request for 33% of the settlement fund and called the award reasonable and consistent with market rates.
Scott + Scott律所及美国加利福尼亚北区地方法院的发言人均拒绝置评。
Spokespersons for Scott + Scott and the US District Court for the Northern District of California declined to comment.
尽管3000美元/小时的费率在此案中可能被法官视为过度，但在顶级律所的顶尖律师中，此类数字已不再令人震惊。路透社此前报道称，Susman Godfrey、Gibson Dunn & Crutcher、Milbank和Quinn Emanuel等所的部分合伙人收费曾高达4000美元/小时。
A $3,000 hourly rate may have struck the judge as an overreach in this case, but such figures are no longer a shock among top lawyers at major firms. Reuters has reported rates as high as $4,000 for prominent lawyers at Susman Godfrey. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; Milbank and Quinn Emanuel are among firms with some partner rates over $3,000.
“律师是在市场中运作，不管好坏，3000美元/小时如今已是大型律所顶级合伙人的普遍市场行情，”乔治城大学破产法教授亚当·莱维廷在接受采访时表示。内华达大学拉斯维加斯分校的费用审查员兼法学教授南希·拉波特也表示，法院在破产案件中经常批准债务人律师在此范围内的小时费用。
"Lawyers operate in a market, and for better or worse, $3,000 per hour is now very much market rate for top tier partners at large firms," Adam Levitin, a bankruptcy law professor at Georgetown University, said in an Levitin and Nancy Rapoport, a fee examiner and law professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said the courts regularly approve hourly fees in that range for debtors' counsel in bankruptcy matters.
律所的收费标准通常不对外公开，但在某些情况下——如破产和集体诉讼——律师有时需要披露其收费标准，因为法官必须批准这些费用。
Law firm billing rates are typically not public, but lawyers are sometimes required to disclose them in certain cases like bankruptcies and class actions where judges must approve fees.
拉波特表示，虽然按小时计费的费率最受关注，但案件的人员配置才是推高成本的原因。
Rapoport said that while hourly rates can attract the most attention, it's the staffing on a case that drives up the costs.
“听证会上人太多，会议上人太多，或者让不合适的人做不合适的工作。这比可计费工时更能推高费用，”她说。
"Too many people at a hearing, too many people at a meeting, or the wrong people doing the wrong kind of work. That drives up fees way more than the billable hour," she said.
弗里曼并未批评谷歌隐私案中原告律师的人员配置，并称他们达成了一项“出色”的和解。集体诉讼原告律师通常采取风险代理方式，若败诉则不收取费用。
Freeman did not criticize the plaintiffs' lawyers' staffing in the Google privacy case, and said they achieved an "excellent" settlement. Class action plaintiffs' lawyers typically work on contingency and don't receive fees if they lose.
年度计费费率上涨是律师事务所的关键收入和利润驱动力。据今年汤森路透研究院和乔治城大学法学院法律伦理与法律职业中心的一份报告，美国大型律所的小时费率在2025年平均增长了7%。汤森路透研究院和路透社拥有同一家母公司。
Annual billing rate increases are key revenue and profit drivers for law firms. Hourly rates among large US firms grew by an average of 7% in 2025, according to a report this year by the Thomson Reuters Institute and Georgetown Law's Center on Ethics and the Legal Profession. The Thomson Reuters Institute and Reuters share the same parent company.
斯科特+斯科特在其7月份的费用申请中表示，其费率部分基于“加利福尼亚州具有可比技能、经验和资质的律师和律师事务所的现行市场费率”，并为其费率的合理性进行了辩护。
Scott + Scott said in its July fee request that its rates are partly based on the "prevailing market rates for attorneys and law firms in California that have comparable skill, experience, and qualifications," and defended its rates as reasonable.
记录显示，该150名律师事务所的管理合伙人斯科特作为诉讼的一部分记账约64小时，费用总额为194,100美元。该事务所的另一位律师达里尔·斯科特在该诉讼中的计费标准为每小时1,960美元，该计费记录由事务所作为其费用申请的一部分提交。
Scott, managing partner of the 150-lawyer firm, billed about 64 hours as part of the lawsuit, records show, amounting to $194,100 in fees. Another lawyer at the firm, Daryl Scott, billed at $1,960 an hour in the lawsuit, according to billing records the firm submitted as part of its fee request.
该和解解决了关于谷歌助手在被触发后非法录制和传播私人对话，并利用这些对话发送定向广告的索赔。法庭文件显示，谷歌否认有不当行为，但为了避免诉讼的风险、成本和不确定性而达成和解。一位谷歌发言人表示，该公司很高兴能够解决此案。
The settlement resolves claims that Google's Assistant illegally recorded and disseminated private conversations after it was triggered, and used them to send targeted advertising. Google denied wrongdoing, but settled to avoid the risk, cost and uncertainty of litigation, court papers show. A Google spokesperson said the company was pleased to resolve the case.
法官在审查赔偿请求时，采用了原告律师提交的时薪作为参考。她对案件中其他原告律师设定了每小时1600美元的上限。达里尔·斯科特的时薪从1960美元下调。代表原告的Lowey Dannenberg律所的杰弗里·霍恩和文森特·布里根蒂最初提交的时薪为1795美元。Lowey律所的律师拒绝置评。
The judge used the hourly rates submitted by the plaintiffs' lawyers as part of her review of the compensation request. She applied a $1,600 rate cap on other plaintiffs' lawyers in the case. Daryl Scott had his hourly rate lowered from $1,960. Geoffrey Horn and Vincent Briganti of Lowey Dannenberg, which also represented the plaintiffs, had initially submitted hourly rates of $1,795. Lowey attorneys declined to comment.
康奈尔大学聘请美国律所King & Spalding对其政策和程序进行独立调查，此举是在公众对该常春藤盟校处理所谓的团伙强奸案引发舆论之后。但教育律师告诉路透社专栏作家萨拉·兰达佐，公众可能无法看到调查结果，因为这可能使大学面临更多诉讼的风险。
Cornell University hired US law firm King & Spalding to conduct an independent investigation into its policies and procedures following a public outcry over the Ivy League school's handling of an alleged gang rape. But the public may not see the investigation's results, education attorneys told Reuters columnist Sara Randazzo, because of the risks of exposing the university to more litigation.
根据全国法律安置协会发布的最新数据，2025届白人法学毕业生找到工作的比例高于他们的黑人、西班牙裔和亚裔同学。
2025's white law graduates are securing jobs at a higher rate than their Black, Hispanic and Asian classmates, according to new figures released by the National Association for Law Placement.
合伙人继续离开传统律所，转向自称为“AI原生”的新创公司，其中包括Goodwin Procter的一位合伙人离职，去领导一家与苏黎世科技公司Omnilex AI相关联的新美国律所。
Partners are continuing to leave traditional law firms for new startup firms that bill themselves as "AI-native," including the departure of a Goodwin Procter partner to lead a new US law firm associated with Zurich-founded technology company Omnilex AI.
律所给律师放假以摆脱计费压力，尝试使用AI；数千起网络追踪诉讼在加州改革下面临消亡；律所在AI竞赛中争夺科技人才。
Law firms give lawyers time off billing grind to test-drive AI Thousands of web-tracking lawsuits face extinction under California overhaul Law firms vie for tech talent in AI race