New York Man Owes Facebook Lawyers $76K in Fees

A federal judge in western New York has ruled that Facebook’s lawyers are entitled to $76,000 in legal fees from a man suing for part ownership of the social networking giant.

The lawyer for Paul Ceglia of Wellsville had argued the fees were too high and should be calculated using Buffalo-area legal rates, not New York City’s.

The judge ruled Tuesday the calculation was fair. He did reduce the amount from $84,000 to account for any inflation of the numbers.

Ceglia was fined $5,000 for contempt and ordered to pay the fees after a ruling he caused delays in his lawsuit seeking half ownership of the $50 billion Menlo Park, Calif.-based company. Ceglia claims he gave Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg $1,000 in startup money in exchange for an ownership stake.