S.D. California cuts immigration fee award, including for clerical work

What happened

The fee applicant sought attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act in an immigration habeas case, with figures including costs. The court found several billed entries unreasonable: 0.1 hours for filing the habeas petition, 0.2 hours total for calendaring due dates on the returned order, and 0.34 hours for delegating mailing of the service packet, all treated as clerical work. It also disallowed 0.75 hours for observing the oral argument hearing as unnecessary. The court did not state totals.

What the court said

The Court finds that the invoices for the filing of the habeas petition (0.1 hours), both instances of calendaring due dates for the returned order (total of 0.2 hours for both) and delegating the service packet to be mailed (0.34 hours) were unreasonable.

The court also reduced the award for: duplicative staffing.

Why it matters

The ruling shows courts will separate clerical tasks from legal work when reviewing time records, even in small increments, and will disallow entries the court considers unnecessary to the representation. It also shows that hours spent observing a hearing may not be compensable when the court finds the attendance was not needed.

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 S.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.