Spansion II: The Fee Sequel

By Peg BrickleyThe bad blood is boiling over in Spansion Inc.’s Chapter 11 case, heated by fights over fees for creditors that attacked the chip maker’s bankruptcy- exit plan and managed to knock $14 million out of the hands of management.Spansion says it shouldn’t have to pay those who battled its bankruptcy strategy, including attorneys for the official committee of unsecured creditors.The company exited Chapter 11 earlier this year but is heading back to court Friday to challenge $5 million worth of bills from lawyers and advisers to two informal committees: one representing convertible-note holders and the other representing shareholders.Spansion is also demanding that Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker, attorneys for the official committee of unsecured creditors, take a 25% haircut on its fee bills because of actions that allegedly sent many unsecured creditors fleeing from the official committee to take refuge in their own ad-hoc panels.Paul Hastings has demanded a fast hearing, warning that Spansion’s challenge to the fees of a formal bankruptcy panel that dared to oppose the company’s restructuring strategy