Facebook’s Meta Paid $67 Million to Lawyers

Meta Platforms Inc. paid about $67 million to Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr last year as the law firm handled antitrust and data-harvesting cases for the social media and technology company.

WilmerHale’s legal services for Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta amounted to “approximately 5%” of the firm’s total revenue, the company said in a proxy filing last month. WilmerHale, known for taking on high-stakes matters for corporate clients, in April announced revenue of more than $1.34 billion last year.

Facebook’s parent disclosed the fees because Robert Kimmitt, senior international of counsel at WilmerHale, joined Meta’s board in 2020. US public companies must detail substantial payments to outside firms affiliated with certain directors. Kimmitt has not provided any legal services to the company since becoming a director, Meta’s filing said.

WilmerHale took the lead for Meta last year in securing a settlement with two Israeli companies that it accused of data harvesting practices targeting Facebook users. WilmerHale has also been representing Meta in antitrust litigation related to the company’s data privacy practices.

Meta, WilmerHale, and Kimmitt didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The WilmerHale legal fees last year were roughly equivalent to what Meta disclosed it paid the firm during 2021.

The firm has had Meta as a client since before Kimmitt—a former US ambassador to Germany—joined its board. Meta has used WilmerHale in more than 3% of the cases the company has faced in US federal courts within the past three years, according to Bloomberg Law data.

Other firms that have appeared in US federal court more often for Meta during that same time include Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila; Covington & Burling; Cooley; Shook, Hardy & Bacon; Kirkland & Ellis; and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.

Meta owns social media services Facebook and Instagram, as well as the messaging platform WhatsApp.

In March, the Menlo Park, Calif.-based company said it would streamline its operations by laying off 10,000 employees and close out an additional 5,000 job openings. Meta had already announced another 11,000 job cuts—about 13% of its workforce—late last year.

Jennifer Newstead, a former Davis Polk & Wardwell partner recruited by Meta to be its top lawyer in 2019, was not one of the company’s seven highest-paid executives last year, according to its proxy.