D. Puerto Rico cuts disability access fee award, including for missing records

What happened

The plaintiff sought fees under the Americans with Disabilities Act for 66.8 hours. The court declined to credit 23.7 hours because counsel did not maintain contemporaneous time records. It also excluded 1.5 hours for work on unrelated claims, reduced 7.5 hours to 1.8 hours as excessive, and lowered the hourly rate. The court awarded fees for 36.2 hours. The court did not state total dollar amounts.

What the court said

Vélez-Colón’s failure to maintain contemporaneous time records thus calls for a reduction of the award. Accordingly, the 23.7 hours in question will not be credited.

The court also reduced the award for: unrelated claims, excessive hours, hourly rate reduced.

Why it matters

The ruling shows that a fee applicant's failure to keep contemporaneous time records can lead a court to strike the affected hours outright, even when other reductions for unrelated claims, excessive hours, and the hourly rate are also applied.

How to keep this out of your fee petition

• Record time the same day the work happens.
• Keep the original records, not only a cleaned-up summary.
• Be able to show when each entry was created.

Cite this ruling

See hourly rates the D. Puerto Rico approves.

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