Squeeze on Fees: How Examiners Keep Bankruptcy Advisers in Check

The lawyer needed a dress shirt for an out-of-town bankruptcy proceeding, so he spent about $120 on his way into town. His real mistake was trying to get the bill past Nancy Rapoport.

The expense stood out when she was in charge of policing fees for the estate of Mirant Corp., now GenOn Energy Holdings Inc., during the power company’s Chapter 11 case several years ago. Big Law attorneys and high-priced consultants can spend their own money on clothing, minibar expenses and cocktails at dinner so far as she’s concerned.

“That one wasn’t going to be compensable under any circumstances,” ...