M.D. Pennsylvania cuts social security fee award 15.9%, including for clerical work

What happened

The fee applicant sought $12,309.37 under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The court awarded $10,352.50, a reduction of $1,956.87 or 15.9%, and allowed 41.0 hours. It reduced 0.5 hours for clerical work billed as legal work, 1.5 hours for excessive time on intake calls and reviewing a three-page complaint, 25% from the RFC argument line (2.25 hours) and 25% from the obesity argument line (2.0 hours) for excessive hours, and 1.0 hour for fees on fees.

What the court said

We therefore hold that review of those two items, combined, accounts for half an hour of the four-hour block.

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

Why it matters

The ruling shows that courts will separate clerical tasks from legal work and trim entries that exceed what the task reasonably required, even in a modest fee request. It also shows that a percentage cut can be applied to individual line items rather than the whole award, and that time spent on the fee request itself is subject to reduction.

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 M.D. Pennsylvania approves and attorney fee motions in Pennsylvania federal courts.

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