* Ford's fight with plaintiffs' firm heats up again

* Quinn Emanuel fights disqualification order

* Latham contract shows US Supreme Court fees

By David Thomas and Mike Scarcella

WASHINGTON, Aug 6 (Reuters) - (Billable Hours is Reuters'

weekly report on lawyers and money. Please send tips or

suggestions to .)

Top U.S. appellate lawyer Neal Katyal is set to square off

against Ford Motor Company ( F ) and his former law firm in a fight

over $100 million in allegedly fabricated attorney billing

records.

Ford is trying to revive a lawsuit it filed against attorneys

from Los Angeles-based Knight Law Group who allegedly defrauded

the automaker in a years-long overbilling scheme. Ford brought

on Hogan Lovells Cadwalader - Katyal's longtime firm before the

star litigator joined Milbank last year - to press its case at

the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Leading the Hogan Lovells team for Ford, which filed its opening

brief on Monday, is Jessica Ellsworth, who has represented

Google in litigation over its Play store and Danco Laboratories

in cases surrounding its abortion drug mifepristone.

Katyal, a former acting U.S. solicitor general under Democratic

President Barack Obama, began defending Knight Law Group last

year, joining a defense lineup that includes Foley & Lardner,

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman and Williams & Connolly. Katyal

said he is planning to lead the appeal.

Ford alleges the Knight firm defrauded carmakers by

submitting false and inflated fee applications and demands under

California's Lemon Law, the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act,

which lets lawyers collect legal fees based on reasonably

incurred time spent representing vehicle owners.

The company's lawsuit said there were "numerous" alleged

instances of lawyers billing more than 24 hours in a day. One

Knight partner billed for more than 57 hours of work on one day,

the carmaker alleged.

A federal judge dismissed Ford's case in November and again in

March, finding that the lawyers were immune under a legal

doctrine known as Noerr-Pennington, which stems from the U.S.

Constitution's First Amendment protection of the right to

petition the government.

Ford argued in its appellate brief that Noerr-Pennington does

not apply to allegations of litigation fraud and perjury under

RICO.

Ford counsel Doug Lampe said in a statement that if the district

court ruling is allowed to stand, "it means that there is no

civil remedy when lawyers lie, cheat and steal as long as such

behavior is done in furtherance of litigation."

Katyal and other attorneys representing Knight Law attorneys

had no comment on Ford's appellate brief.

A spokesperson for Hogan Lovells Cadwalader declined to

comment. Lampe said in a statement that the automaker has a

long-term relationship with Hogan Lovells, which has represented

the company in dozens of appeals.

The Knight Law Group has argued that Ford's lawsuit is an

effort "to chill and punish its litigation adversaries - law

firms, lawyers, and staff who represent consumers harmed by

Ford's defective vehicles and fraudulent conduct."

The case is at least one of 20 such actions Ford and other major

companies have filed invoking civil RICO provisions against

lawyers in U.S. federal courts over the last two years. Civil

plaintiffs can have their damages tripled under RICO; Ford said

it was seeking more than $100 million.

--Quinn Emanuel fights disqualification in CoStar ( CSGP ) case

Quinn Emanuel is appealing a federal judge's order that

disqualified the law firm from representing data provider

Commercial Real Estate ​Exchange (CREXi) in a sprawling

copyright and antitrust case in California.

Quinn, in a petition to the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit

Court of Appeals, said its prior work for commercial real estate

data provider CoStar ( CSGP ) was unrelated to its current representation

of CREXi. The firm was defending CREXi against copyright claims

lodged by CoStar ( CSGP ) while pursuing antitrust counterclaimsagainst

the rival. CoStar ( CSGP ) accuses CREXi of deliberately copying tens ​of

thousands of CoStar ( CSGP ) photos of real ​estate ⁠properties. CREXi

claims CoStar ( CSGP ) has locked brokers into using its data platforms.

Both companies have denied any wrongdoing. Quinn Emanuel

declined to comment.

The firm's legal team, including litigator Alex Spiro, told

the appeals court that no client confidences were at risk in the

case and that California law does not impose automatic firm-wide

disqualification when a law firm is adverse to a former client

in a case that isn't substantially related. "CREXi will suffer

irreversible prejudice should it be deprived of its chosen trial

counsel," the firm argued.

--Latham lands US Supreme Court contract for California city

Law firm Latham & Watkins could earn up to $700,000 for

representing the City of Santa Maria, California, in a case at

the U.S. Supreme Court, according to contract records reviewed

by Reuters.

Latham's team, led by former U.S. solicitor general Gregory

Garre, will charge $250,000 to try to convince the justices to

take the city's case. The city in its petition, filed last

month, asked the court to revive its bid to defeat a police

excessive force lawsuit. A federal appeals court earlier allowed

the case to move forward.

Latham said its fee would grow to up to $700,000 if the

justices agree to take up the dispute on the merits. The firm

said that, in general, its lawyers currently charge between $945

and $3,050 an hour.

Local and state governments often hire outside lawyers to

handle appellate work, and it's common for firms to provide

public clients a discount. Latham did not immediately respond to

a request for comment about its fees for Santa Maria.

Also on Billable Hours' radar this week...

--Reuters columnist Sara Randazzo digs into office romance

policies at major law firms after a kiss between two Wachtell

attorneys went viral online.

--President Donald Trump's legal team at DLA Piper is fighting a

bid for thousands of dollars in legal fees from groups that

challenged his since-dismissed lawsuit against the IRS.

Read more:

Law firm MSOs spark demand for dealmakers

US firms' lobbying revenue hits new heights in 2nd quarter

Legal heavyweights square off in $243 million Tesla crash appeal