April 13 (Bloomberg) -- Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP is seeking $55 million for its work as lead bankruptcy counsel to Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. for the 4 1/2 months after the bank filed bankruptcy in September.

Weil partner Harvey Miller is leading the New York firm’s representation of what was the fourth-largest investment bank. Partners and other senior lawyers at Weil billed 29,398 hours during the period from Sept. 15 through Jan. 31, for which they are seeking $24.2 million, according to a fee request filed today with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.

Including associates and paralegals, the firm billed more than 100,000 hours on the bankruptcy, the largest ever filed with $613 billion in debts. Partners and “of counsel” attorneys working on Lehman charged an average of about $824 an hour, according to the filing. The firm also is seeking $1.3 million for expenses.

Lazard Freres & Co., the investment banker to Lehman, is seeking $6.6 million in compensation for the same period, according to its request filed April 10. Lazard represented Lehman in the sale of various assets including its brokerage business to Barclays Plc for $1.54 billion.

Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy LLP, which represents Lehman’s unsecured creditors’ committee, is seeking $12.1 million in fees and another $668,388 in expense reimbursement. The firms’ lawyers and support staff billed for 21,496 hours from its Sept. 17 retention through the end of January.

Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin Capital Inc., the investment banker for the creditors’ committee, has asked for $2.2 million for its work from Dec. 17 through January. The committee’s professional fees are paid by Lehman because it is officially recognized by the court in the bankruptcy case.

Forecast of Charges

Lynn LoPucki, who teaches bankruptcy law at the University of California, Los Angeles, and maintains a database to calculate fees, has estimated that Weil could see as much as $209 million in fees from the Lehman case. Overall, the bankers, accountants and lawyers in the case will see judge-approved charges of $906 million, LoPucki has said.

Energy trader Enron Corp.’s three years of bankruptcy cost $757 million, including $149.4 million paid to Weil, he said.

Last week, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Peck approved payment of more than $12 million in fees and expenses to the trustee appointed by the Securities Investor Protection Corp. to wind down Lehman’s broker-dealer business.

The case is In re Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., 08-13555, and the SIPC case is In re Securities Investor Protection Corp. v. Lehman Brothers Inc., 08-1420, both in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

To contact the reporters on this story: Christopher Scinta in New York bankruptcy court at cscinta@bloomberg.net; Linda Sandler in New York at lsandler@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 13, 2009 20:06 EDT