In re Crafts Retail Holding Corp, et al. Case No: 07-42272

ttorney Fees - Financial advisors could not obtain reimbursement for fees of attorneys whose employment was never approved.

A law firm whose employment by Chapter 11 debtors' financial advisor was never authorized by the bankruptcy court could not obtain compensation from the estate for legal services that it had rendered simply by presenting its request for compensation through the financial advisor, whose employment had been authorized by the court, and by recharacterizing its fee claim as simply a request by the financial advisor for reimbursement of just another out-of- pocket expense. Allowing the financial advisor to obtain compensation for legal services performed by a law firm whose employment was never approved simply by recharacterizing the firm's fees as an out-of-pocket expense would impermissibly subvert strictures on professionals' first obtaining court authorization for their employment before they can render services compensable by the estate.

Date of decision: 11/16/07

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