By no means do we think that we might reliably predict the
outcome of such a politically charged case as King v. Burwell, No. 14-114, the
latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act.
But for those who like to read tea leaves from the Supreme
Court, section III.B.2 of the Court’s decision (released
yesterday) in Baker Botts LLP v. Asarco LLC, No.
14-103, might be worth paying attention to. The upshot of
Baker Botts is that the law firm could not recover
attorneys’ fees incurred in defending its fee application in
bankruptcy because § 330(a)(1) of the Bankruptcy Code does not
authorize bankruptcy courts to award fees for defending fee
applications.
Justice Thomas wrote for the Court (with a majority consisting
of himself, Chief Justice Roberts, and Justices Scalia, Kennedy,
and Alito), and Justice Sotomayor wrote a one-paragraph
concurrence, joining all but section III.B.2 of the Court’s
decision.
