S.D. Florida cuts fee award 20% over block billing

What happened

Bluegreen Vacations Unlimited and related parties sought $1,721,873 in attorney fees. The court awarded $1,377,498.40, a reduction of $344,374.60, or 20%. The court applied a 20% reduction to the total fee for block billing and also found that erroneous entries throughout the submissions warranted a further reduction. The figures do not include costs.

What the court said

the Undersigned will instead reduce the requested fees by 20%.

The court also reduced the award for: other.

Why it matters

The ruling shows that courts will reduce a fee award when time entries are block billed and contain errors, applying a percentage cut to the total rather than adjusting individual entries. It confirms that the burden is on the fee applicant to submit records that allow the court to assess the reasonableness of the requested fees.

How to keep this out of your fee petition

• Record one task per entry, each with its own time.
• Write the entry when the work happens, not at the end of the week.
• If a task really is one unit of work, say what it was and what it produced.

Cite this ruling

See hourly rates the S.D. Florida approves and attorney fee motions in Florida federal courts.

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.