2026 - Legal Fee Audit CV

2026 - Legal Fee Audit CV

Jim Schratz

Legal Fee Auditor | Attorney Fee Expert | Expert Witness

January 1994 - Present

Representative Legal Fee Audit Experience

• Department of Fair Employment and Housing v. United Dominion Realty - The court accepted Jim's audit findings and recommended reductions in opposing a fee motion.
• In re Tropicana Entertainment, LLC - Retained by investor Carl Icahn and other shareholders as special litigation counsel to review approximately $60 million in professional fees in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
• In re Adamar of New Jersey, Inc. and Manchester Mall, Inc. - Retained by investor Carl Icahn and other shareholders as special litigation counsel to review approximately $8 million in legal fees in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey.
• The Estate of Larry Lee Hillblom - Appointed by the District Court in the Northern Mariana Islands to audit $22 million in legal fees in an estate matter estimated to be worth $1 billion.
• Described by the American Bar Association Journal as a "major player in the field of legal fee audits."

Trial and Fee Testimony

• Victaulic Company v. American Home Assurance Company, et al. - Testified on behalf of an $8.3 million Brandt fee request by Victaulic's law firm, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, which the jury awarded.
• Lathrop & Gage v. Kenney - Testified at trial and assisted the law firm in recovering approximately $1 million in fees from the client.
• Gen. Charles E. Yeager, et al. v. Don A. Lesser, The Lesser Law Group, et al. - Testified at trial and assisted the law firm in successfully seeking its fees from a former client.
• North Pacifica, LLC v. City of Pacifica - Retained by the defendant to audit plaintiff's request for $2,046,759.16 in fees and costs. The court awarded $453,810.75 and cited Jim's audit with approval on billing issues and methodology.
• Qualified as an expert witness on issues involving reasonableness of attorneys' fees and proper claims handling procedures in state and federal court.

Prior Work History

• Vice President, Major Claims - Fireman's Fund Insurance Company
• Director, Corporate Litigation - Fireman's Fund Insurance Company
• Assistant General Counsel - Fireman's Fund Insurance Company
• Associate - Rosenblum, Fenolio, Parish, Jack & Bacigalupi, San Francisco
• Associate - Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe, San Francisco

Education

• University of San Francisco School of Law - J.D., 1976; Editor-in-Chief, Law Review.
• University of Illinois - M.A., Political Science, 1972.
• State University of New York at Buffalo - B.A., 1969.
• Taught at various law schools and universities in the Bay Area and lectured throughout the United States and in Europe.

Selected Publications

• April 1991 - "Managing Insurer, Insured Conflicts of Interest by Use of Independent Counsel," American Bar Association, Section of Litigation, Committee on Insurance, Mid-Year Meeting.
• June 1992 - "Do The Right Thing," California Lawyer.
• June 1992 - "Resolving the Cumis Quandary: Guidelines for Reasonable Fees," Insurance Litigation Reporter.
• October 1992 - "The Alliance Lives," Underwriters Report.
• October 1992 - "The Need For Legal Audits," Verdict.
• February 1993 - "Cumis Counsel's Obligation To Provide Information To The Insurance Company," American Bar Association, Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee, Mid-Winter Meeting.
• Spring 1993 - "The Other Side of the Cumis Coin: The Insurer's Ability To Select Associate Defense Counsel Under Civil Code, Section 2860(f)" (with Jon R. Mower), Western State Law Review.
• July 1993 - "Is Your Insurance Company Doing Enough To Fight Fraud?" Risk Management.
• July 1993 - "Why We Lost The Battle Against Insurance Fraud," Claims.
• September 1993 - "Customer Satisfaction - The Secret Weapon in Law Firm Marketing," Washington State Bar News.
• October 1993 - "Tactical Defenses: An Insurance Company's Guide to Working with Cumis Counsel" (with Jon R. Mower), Claims.
• October 1993 - "Fighting Insurance Fraud Takes Persistence," Missouri Agent.
• Spring 1994 - "Legal Auditing Makes Sense," Legal Audit Review.
• September 1994 - "Empowering Adjusters For Creative Solutions," Best's Review.
• February 1995 - "How To Avoid A Fee Dispute With Your Client," American Bar Association, Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee (with Susan R. Brown).
• February 1995 - "Billing Guidelines and Fee Disputes," American Bar Association, Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee.
• April 1995 - "Bad Faith for Legal Work? Your Insurer May Be Liable for Mishandling Its Lawyers," Claims Magazine.
• April 1995 - "Is Your Company's Insurance Firm Guilty of Litigation Mismanagement?" The American Lawyer's Corporate Counsel Magazine.
• May 1995 - "Billing Guidelines and Fee Disputes: A Case Law Review," Trial Diplomacy Journal, Volume 18, Number 3.
• July 1995 - "How to Avoid Fee Disputes" (with Susan Brown), The Practical Litigator, Volume 6, Number 4.
• April 1996 - "Take A Psychological Approach To Managing Legal Fees," Claims.
• May 1996 - "Cross-Examining the Legal Auditor," The Practical Litigator, Volume 7, Number 3.
• August 1996 - "Is your Insurance Company Liable for Bad Faith Litigation Management," Business Laws, Inc., Litigation Management.
• August 1996 - "Is Your Company's Insurance Firm Guilty of Litigation Mismanagement," Business Laws, Inc.'s Law Department Management Adviser, Issue No. 149.
• Fall 1996 - "Cross-Examining a Legal Auditor," American Journal of Trial Advocacy, Volume 20:1.
• November 1996 - "Cross-Examining a Legal Auditor," Business Laws, Inc., Law Department Management Adviser, Issue No. 152.
• August 1997 - "The Recovery of Legal Fees and the Use of A Legal Fee Auditor in Fee-Shifting Cases" (with Susan R. Brown), Business Laws, Inc., Law Department Management Adviser.
• September-October 1997 - "Recovering Legal Fees and using Legal Fee Auditors" (with Susan R. Brown), Trial Diplomacy Journal, Volume 20, Number 5.
• Winter 1997 - "How to Avoid a Fee Dispute with Your Client" (with Susan R. Brown), American Bar Association The Brief, Vol. 26, No. 2.
• March 1998 - "How the Legal Auditor Can Help You in the Fee-Shifting Case" (with Susan R. Brown), The Practical Litigator, Volume 9, Number 2.
• March/April 1998 - "Strategic Inflection Points in the Legal Profession," American Journal of Trial Advocacy.
• April 1998 - "Controlling the Uncontrollable: When Insurers Must Pay Plaintiff's Legal Fees," Commercial Claims.
• July 1998 - "Strategic Inflection Points in the Legal Profession," Business Laws, Inc., Law Department Management Adviser.
• Summer 1998 - "I Told You to Fire Nicholas Farber -- A Psychological and Sociological Analysis of Why Attorneys Overbill," Rutgers Law Review, Vol. 50, No. 4.
• April 2001 - "Winning an Attorney's Fee Petition," Rhode Island Bar Journal, Volume XLIX, Number 7.
• May 2001 - "How To Win a Fee Petition," The Practical Litigator, Volume 12, Number 3.
• August 2001 - "How To Win a Fee Petition," The Federal Lawyer, Volume 48, Number Seven.
• December 2001 - "How To Win a Fee Petition: What the Plaintiff Should Avoid, What the Defendant Should Look For," Business Laws, Inc., Law Department Management Adviser.
• April 2002 - "How to Win a Fee Petition: What the Plaintiff Should Avoid, What the Defendant Should Look For," Business Laws, Inc., Corporate Counsel's Guide to Litigation Management.
• May 31, 2002 - "Ballooning Costs - Avoiding Questionable Billing Practices Improves Chance of Recovering Fees," Los Angeles Daily Journal, Dicta.
• December 14, 2010 - "Winning a Fee Application in Hawaii," Hawaii Bar Journal.

References furnished upon request.