$200/hour in the DC lawyers market is really on the low end. I think the govt is paying wholesale, not overpaying.
See the matrix for attorneys’ fees per the US Attorney’s Office as of 2003 at the link below. $200/hour falls between 1-3 and 4-7 years experience. If I’m Donald Rumsfeld or Paul Wolfowitz, I might want a lawyer with a bit more experience.
I can’t find updated information, but would be willing to bet their rates haven’t gone down in the past 8 years. Some of the big name firms in DC are now charging over $1000/hour.
http://www.justice.gov/usao/dc/Divisions/Civil_Division/Laffey_Matrix_3.html
I totally agree with your post, and I’ll go even further.
They will pay $200 per hour knowing that Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz require better attorneys than that, given the charges and their stature...and the fact that they’ve been publicly demeaned so badly that it would be hard to find a jury who doesn’t have an opinion already.
They are throwing them to the wolves if those two don’t pay very heftily out of their own pockets...not only for high priced attorneys, but for PR firms, as well.