A nationally prominent criminal defense attorney's retainer in a first degree murder case runs into the millions. Yes, millions, which is why most defendants in such cases have either 1.public defender/appointed lawyers, 2. subpar private attorneys trying to keep the lights on, 3. lawyers seeking the notoriety of a high profile case (NP?), 4. high quality lawyers, usually from big firms who have agreed to take the case pro bono, or 5. one of a very, very small cadre of experienced defenders who believe it is their moral obligation to handle capital cases, usually because of their opposition to the death penalty.
For the big guns, $750 per hour is considered low in big cities, plus there is the hourly rate charged for paralegals, investigators, and expert witnesses (whose hourly rates can be higher than that of the lawyer). Plus, of course, hourly fees for electronic research, costs of depositions (if allowed by state law), costs of independent forensic testing, and all the other miscellaneous things lawyers bill clients for like travel costs, postage, copy costs; the list goes on and on. To give you some idea, in one case in the state of Washington, the mitigation expert bill alone was six MILLION dollars. Now, that was a high-profile death penalty case with six victims, but you get the idea.
Even in states where the average hourly fee is lower, NP would lose money at $250,000 and maybe break even at half a million. Do I believe NP can command such fees? Let's just say I wouldn't pay him that kind of money and IMO he isn't part of the millionaire's club. IMO, NP believes this case will rocket him into rock star category and he may be right. There a are lot of "TV lawyers" who get lots of business from their pandering to the cameras. Such lawyers are universally reviled by those lawyers who know the truth about their actual legal abilities. Some of the very best lawyers know better than to chase the cameras-it may help the lawyer; it affirmatively harms the client. IMO!
NP is making a lot of classic mistakes in the way he has "handles" the press. These mistakes appear to be the result of his need for publicity, which makes me think he is trying to go from a Category 1 lawyer (mostly appointed) to a Category 3. He will never make land fall at a Category 4 or 5.