E.D. California cuts commercial fee award 30.9%, including for clerical work

What happened

Hemar, Rousso & Heald, LLP sought $7,897.50 for 24.3 hours in a contract fee clause case. The court awarded $5,460 for 16.8 hours, a reduction of $2,437.50. It cut 3.5 hours for time tied to a hearing that was never held, reduced complaint preparation to 3.0 hours, and cut 1.9 hours of entries it found excessive, duplicative, or clerical tasks billed at an attorney rate, allowing 1.0 hour for those tasks.

What the court said

These entries are either excessive, duplicative or are clerical tasks that should not be billed at an attorney rate. The Court finds these tasks should not have taken more than 1.00 hours to complete and will reduce the award amount accordingly.

The court also reduced the award for: excessive hours, excessive hours.

Why it matters

The ruling shows courts will trim fee requests when time entries include work that did not occur, exceed what the task reasonably required, or bill clerical tasks at attorney rates. Even modest reductions can meaningfully lower an award, so entries should match the actual procedural history and distinguish legal from clerical work.

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 E.D. California approves and attorney fee motions in California 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.