As evidenced by court filings, Delphi Corp. has racked up about $200 million in both legal and accounting bills since it filed for Chapter 11 in October 2005. Experts said the tab could reach $300 million before the company emerges from bankruptcy by the end of 2007.

With Delphi spending $12.5 million per month, the Troy-based auto supplier's bankruptcy is on track to become one of the ten most expensive in U.S. history, said Lynn LoPucki, a professor of bankruptcy law at the University of California-Los Angeles who tracks Chapter 11 costs.

United Auto Workers leaders have intensely disparaged the fees paid to teams of lawyers, accountants, turnaround experts and other firms that specialize in bankruptcies. Particularly infuriating to the union is that Delphi workers agreed to reduced pay and benefits to help the company emerge from bankruptcy.

"Bankruptcy is big business," UAW President Ron Gettelfinger told WJR-760 radio in Detroit on Monday. "One of these days, people will wake up and see what's happening here. We need to reform the bankruptcy laws. These guys are making a ton of money in this bankruptcy. Literally, it's obscene."

The auto supplier