M.D. Georgia cuts social security fee award 17.4%, including for vague entries

What happened

The plaintiff sought $22,700.18 in attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act for 88.3 hours. The court awarded $18,741.13, a reduction of $3,959.05, leaving 72.9 hours. It reduced one entry from 3.8 hours to 1.0 hour as excessive. It also cut by 20% the hours for preparing the opening brief and the reply on the fee request because the entries covered multiple tasks. The figures do not include costs.

What the court said

the Court reduces the hours spent preparing Plaintiff's opening brief and for her Reply regarding her EAJA attorney's fees request by 20% because of the multi-task entries

the Court reduces the hours spent preparing Plaintiff's opening brief and for her Reply regarding her EAJA attorney's fees request by 20% because of the multi-task entries

The court also reduced the award for: excessive hours.

Why it matters

The ruling shows that courts will trim specific time entries they find excessive and will apply a percentage cut to entries that combine several tasks without separating the time spent on each, even in a routine social security fee request.

How to keep this out of your fee petition

• Name the task, the document or person involved, and the purpose.
• Avoid stock phrases that could describe any day in any matter.
• Keep privileged detail general, but specific enough to show the work.

Cite this ruling

See hourly rates the M.D. Georgia approves and attorney fee motions in Georgia 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.