A first hearing before the judge on August 10 was at times heated, and he was "sharply critic[al]" of the bonuses. David Rosenfeld represented the SEC, and Lewis J. Liman, son of Arthur L. Liman, represented the bank. The actual amount of bonuses paid was $3.6 billion, of which $850 million was "guaranteed" and the rest was shared among 39,000 workers who received average payments of $91,000; 696 people received more than $1 million in bonuses; at least one person received a more than $33 million bonus.Story, Louise (August 10, 2009), "Judge Attacks Merrill Pre-Merger Bonuses" , The New York Times, (p. B1, August 11, 2009 NY ed.), retrieved August 11, 2009
