D. Minnesota cuts immigration fee award 50%, including for block billing

What happened

The petitioner sought fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act for 155.5 hours in an immigration case. The court granted the request but reduced it by 50%, a figure that includes costs. The court cited duplicative staffing and overstaffing, entries that block multiple activities together, support staff entries for clerical tasks, entries tied to a separate habeas case in Texas, work for the petitioner's roommate, calls with reporters, and time on issues that did not contribute to success on the merits.

What the court said

Many of the entries also block multiple activities together, with no way to discern how much time was dedicated to each task.

The support staff entries largely relate to clerical tasks.

The court also reduced the award for: duplicative staffing, unrelated claims, limited success.

Why it matters

The ruling shows that a single percentage cut can rest on several grounds at once, and that time records mixing tasks, billing clerical work as legal work, or covering unrelated matters give a court little basis to separate compensable time, so it may reduce the award as a whole.

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 D. Minnesota approves and attorney fee motions in Minnesota 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.