Bloomberg reported that Grupo Mexico SAB’s US mining unit must pay USD 122.4 million in fees and USD 6.5 million in expenses to the Houston law firm the Mexican copper producer spent 6 years fighting in federal courts in Texas.

US Bankruptcy Judge Richard S Schmidt in Corpus Christi, Texas ordered Asarco LLC to pay the fees and expenses of Baker Botts LLP which won a judgment potentially worth more than USD 6 billion against Grupo Mexico in 2008 related to Asarco’s bankruptcy. The case was settled when Grupo Mexico agreed to pay creditors about USD 2.5 billion to bring Asarco out of bankruptcy. The results obtained in these cases are nothing short of extraordinary.

Mr Schmidt wrote explaining why he thought the fees were justified. The judge credited Baker Botts with winning billions of dollars for Asarco’s creditors, who included victims of asbestos poisoning and governmental agencies responsible for cleaning up mining pollution. Mr Baker Botts performed at an exemplary level.

Group Mexico, acting through a US holding company, put Asarco into bankruptcy in 2005 seeking protection from creditors owed billions of dollars. At the start of the bankruptcy, Asarco, a copper miner based in Tucson, Arizona, was in danger of being forced to liquidate.

(Sourced from Bloomberg.net)