E.D. Texas cuts employment fee award 20%, including for clerical work

What happened

The Law Office of Ronald R. Huff, counsel for the fee applicant, requested $110,385 in fees. The court awarded $88,308, a reduction of $22,077, or 20%. The court found that counsel did not write off excessive and redundant hours and did not exercise billing judgment. It also agreed with the defendant that some billed hours went to clerical tasks, that some large blocks of time had vague descriptions, and that block billing impaired the reasonableness review. The figures do not include costs.

What the court said

the Court also agrees with Defendant that some of the hours billed were dedicated to clerical tasks

there are some examples of large blocks of time with vague descriptions that frustrate the Court’s ability to determine whether the hours spent were reasonable

Courts disfavor the practice of block billing because it impairs the required reasonableness evaluation

The court also reduced the award for: excessive hours.

Why it matters

The ruling shows that a single percentage cut can rest on several recordkeeping problems at once, including clerical tasks, vague descriptions and block billing, alongside a broader billing judgment finding. For fee applicants, it shows courts will reduce the award when time entries do not let them assess whether the hours were reasonable.

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. Texas approves and attorney fee motions in Texas 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.