S.D. Florida cuts wage and hour fee award 52.1%, including for clerical work

What happened

The FairLaw Firm, counsel for the plaintiff in an FLSA wage and hour case, requested $22,134.15 in fees for 67.61 hours. The court awarded $10,591, a reduction of $11,543.15 or 52.1%. It reduced the hourly rates for the three timekeepers. It declined to award 17.8 hours incurred after July 11, 2024, and 0.3 hours from a June 6, 2024 entry that did not appear to be from this case. It also excluded time entries for clerical or secretarial tasks.

What the court said

the time entries listed below are for non-attorney tasks that are clerical or secretarial in nature and therefore not recoverable.

The court also reduced the award for: hourly rate reduced, hourly rate reduced, other, other.

Why it matters

The ruling shows that a fee award can be reduced for several independent reasons at once, including rate adjustments, hours outside the relevant period, entries from other matters, and clerical tasks billed as legal work. Courts examine each time entry and apply the reductions cumulatively rather than crediting any single problem with the whole cut.

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. Florida approves and attorney fee motions in Florida 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.