D. Puerto Rico cuts disability access fee award 55.4%, including for clerical work

What happened

The fee applicant sought $33,600 in attorney fees under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The court awarded $15,004, a reduction of $18,596 or 55.4%. It lowered the requested hourly rate for attorney work. It halved 12.2 hours for duplicative staffing to 6.1, reduced 1.2 hours for a written discovery form to 0.6 as excessive, and disallowed 0.8 hours. It counted 3.7 hours as clerical and credited them at a lower rate.

What the court said

Therefore, 3.7 hours of work will be counted as clerical and credited at a rate of $120 per hour.

The court also reduced the award for: hourly rate reduced, duplicative staffing, excessive hours, other.

Why it matters

The ruling shows that a fee award can be reduced on several independent grounds at once, including the hourly rate, duplicative staffing, excessive entries, and work the court treats as clerical. It also shows that time records must distinguish legal work from clerical tasks, because clerical hours may be compensated at a lower rate.

How to keep this out of your fee petition

• Leave purely clerical work off the fee petition.
• Describe paralegal tasks so the substantive work is clear.
• Split mixed entries into their substantive and clerical parts.

Cite this ruling

See hourly rates the D. Puerto Rico approves.

Figures and quotes are taken from the opinion and checked against its text. Spot an error? Email team@legaltime.ai with the case name and we will correct it. Summaries of public court opinions. Not legal advice.