May 7 (Bloomberg) -- Jones Day partner Corinne Ball, who is charging bankrupt Chrysler LLC $900 an hour for her counsel, asked a judge to make sure her law firm gets paid before other professionals and creditors.

As Chrysler’s lead law firm, Jones Day’s fees and expenses could total $114.7 million, out of $372.4 million in court- approved payments to all lawyers, bankers and accountants in the Chapter 11 proceedings, estimated bankruptcy law professor Lynn LoPucki at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Jones Day has prepared a draft order for the signature of Judge Arthur Gonzalez asking that its fees and expenses be granted “superpriority status” along with some other Chrysler advisers, according to a filing on April 30 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, which cited a section of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code related to such payments.

“I have never seen a request for superpriority under Section 364 for a professional,” said bankruptcy law professor Stephen Lubben at Seton Hall University’s law school in Newark, New Jersey, who keeps a database for fees. “I don’t see how every large trade creditor wouldn’t ask for similar protection if it’s granted to Jones Day in this instance.”

Ball also asked in a separate filing for superpriority status for the fees of Capstone Advisory Group LLC and other professionals working directly for the bankrupt company. Capstone charges top rates of $795 an hour and will seek an $8 million fee if it helps to restructure or sell a “majority” of Chrysler’s assets, according to the court filing.

Greenhill Fees

By contrast, Jones Day has asked Gonzalez to give Chrysler permission to hire investment banking firm Greenhill & Co. for its financial advice, and made no mention of requesting superpriority status for Greenhill’s fees, according to the filing. Greenhill is seeking $1 million in cash for any transaction it evaluates, among other payments, according to a court filing. Greenhill was paid $3.25 million by Chrysler in March and April for advice, according to the filing.

Chrysler paid Washington-based Jones Day $18.9 million in retainers from November to May, partly to try to keep itself out of bankruptcy. In court, Jones Day has 120 to 150 days to ask the judge to approve monthly fees that will already have been paid by Chrysler, according to the court filing.

Charlotte Powell, a spokeswoman for Jones Day, declined to comment. LoPucki’s fee estimate is based on comparisons with other large cases. His bankruptcy database includes more than 700 cases analyzed over 20 years.

The case is In re Chrysler LLC, 09-50002, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

To contact the reporters on this story: Linda Sandler in New York at lsandler@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 7, 2009 14:55 EDT