July 9 (Bloomberg) -- Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the investment bank liquidating in bankruptcy, paid its advisers $262.6 million for nine months of work, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The best-paid firm through June was New York-based restructuring adviser Alvarez & Marsal LLC, which has taken $115 million in fees since Lehman declared bankruptcy in September, according to papers filed yesterday. Lehman’s primary law firm, Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP of New York, received $63.7 million through June for a team headed by partner Harvey Miller.

Bankers, accountants and lawyers may reap record judge- approved charges of $906 million by the time Lehman’s bankruptcy ends, estimated Lynn LoPucki, a University of California, Los Angeles professor who has a database to calculate fees. Those fees are in proportion to “the size and scope of the cases” of Lehman and its affiliates, Weil Gotshal’s Miller said.

“These are the largest bankruptcy cases in history,” he said in an e-mail. “Beyond that, they are extraordinarily complex because of the nature of the transactions that are involved,” including the settling of derivatives trades and disputes.

“Unpeeling the derivatives is an enormous task that is consuming scores of attorneys, as the litigation is mounting despite numerous efforts to reconcile accounts,” said Miller, whose firm also is lead counsel to General Motors Corp.

‘Many Safeguards’

To review fee requests, the judge in the Lehman case appointed a fee committee, he said. Fees in addition are subject to review by the U.S. Trustee who oversees bankruptcies.

“There are many safeguards in the Bankruptcy Code and as imposed by the court to protect the debtors’ estates against excessive and unnecessary billing,” he said.

Last month, the U.S. Trustee said GM’s financial advisers at AlixPartners LLP and Evercore Group LLC were asking for “an unreasonably rich fee structure,” probably amounting to $130 million for the two before counting incentives fees that may be due to AlixPartners.

A&M’s Bryan Marsal, who is Lehman’s chief executive officer, said the restructuring firm assigned “the equivalent” of 175 full-time people to 20 projects at Lehman, where they manage and sell assets and administer the bankruptcy case.

More Complex

“This is the equivalent of doing 20 assignments,” he said today in an e-mail. “Lehman is bigger and more complex than any project ever undertaken in bankruptcy. No boasting intended but this was a very tough job that only a handful of firms could have tackled.”

Much of the cost of the firm’s services is for outside requests for information, court requirements and support for Lehman as it faces potential litigation by investors with claims against it, he said. The firm’s tasks include “filing all the necessary accounting schedules with the court, filing tax returns, running an IT department, answering the endless stream of data requests and conducting a forensic in support of a massive litigation effort.”

Separately, Lehman said its cash rose to $12.2 billion in June, an increase of 10 percent from the previous month. Lehman, which filed the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history with assets of $639 billion, owes creditors as much as $250 billion, Marsal has said.

Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy LLP, which advises Lehman’s creditors, has received $17.2 million from the investment bank.

Weil Gotshal could get as much as $209 million in fees from the Lehman case, potentially the most lucrative ever for advisers, LoPucki has said.

The Lehman case is In re Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., 08-13555, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

To contact the reporter responsible for this story: Linda Sandler in New York at lsandler@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 9, 2009 00:01 EDT