A law firm accused of charging exorbitant fees has made the same allegation against other attorneys connected to selling debt-ridden and fraud-tainted Easterday farms to the Mormon church.

Easterday farms attorney Richard Pachulski, whose $1,595 hourly rate has been challenged by the Justice Department, objected Tuesday to $752,042 in legal fees sought by a law firm representing the Prudential Insurance Company, a major creditor.

The disputes won’t stop the church’s Farmland Reserve Inc., known in Washington as AgriNorthwest, from buying several Easterday farms in Benton County, Wash., for $209 million. The sale could close as early as Friday. 

Mounting legal bills will affect how much money is left for creditors and to make restitution to Tyson Fresh Meats, which was defrauded of $233 million by Cody Easterday, who has also agreed to repay a second defrauded company $11 million. 

At a hastily called hearing Tuesday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Whitman Holt in Yakima urged lawyers to talk and try to settle remaining legal issues.

“Sometimes litigating everything all the way to the mat is the worst possible outcome for everyone, and that’s particularly true in bankruptcy cases, where there’s just not enough pie to go around, which appears to be where we’re ending up in this case,” Holt said.

Cody Easterday, 50, is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 5 on one count of wire fraud. He billed Tyson and the other company for buying and feeding nonexistent cattle, according to federal prosecutors.

Sentencing was moved from August to give Easterday time to raise as much money as possible for restitution through bankruptcy proceedings.

When the sale closes, Prudential will receive more than $50 million to repay a loan to the Easterdays. Another $9 million in default interest and a prepayment premium remain in dispute.

Pachulski balked at paying another $752,047 at closing to cover Prudential’s legal fees.

He complained that Prudential’s lawyers haven’t explained what they did and that the company spent money on an appraisal and a title insurance policy that were unnecessary.

Prudential lawyers say their client’s legal costs mounted because Easterday farms aggressively maneuvered to avoid fully repaying the loan.

Hourly rates at the Chicago-based firm that represents Prudential averaged $632, inexpensive compared to the hourly rate of $1,102 for attorneys at Pachulski’s L.A. law firm, according to Prudential.

Easterday farms and Prudential have tangled for months. On July 14, Easterday promised to pay Prudential’s legal fees. In return, Prudential agreed to resolve the $9 million dispute later, clearing the way for Farmland Reserve to buy the farms free of liens this month.

“The debtors representatives assured us to our faces that, ‘We’re not going to jerk you around on fees,’ ” Prudential attorney Brian Walsh told Judge Holt.

“It is our perception that the debtors are jerking us around on fees.”

Assistant U.S. Trustee Gary Dyer has objected to a $3.8 million legal bill submitted by Pachulski’s firm for work done between Feb. 1 and May 31.

Pachulski told Judge Holt that he expects to deal with the objection at a hearing within the next month.

He said law firms should be judged by their efficiency and accomplishments and that Prudential’s rate comparison was “completely irrelevant.”

“I’ve spent 40 years arguing over this rate issue because I find it so disturbing and offensive,” Pachulski said. “The rate issue is a complete red herring.”

In a partial decision, Holt ruled that Prudential will receive $374,529 for legal fees at closing. The judge said that based on his experience, Prudential had firm grounds to claim some fees.

The remaining $377,546 will be set aside for now. The judge said he will need to see lawyers’ time records before ruling on the remaining amount.