D. Hawaii cuts commercial fee award, including for clerical work

What happened

The fee applicant sought fees under a contract fee clause in Clark v. Trisler et al. The court excluded 1.4 hours, 0.2 hours, 0.1 hours, 0.7 hours, 1.2 hours and 10.7 hours as work on unrelated claims not relevant to the defense against the Second Amended Complaint. It also excluded 0.4 hours of clerical work on certificates of service as noncompensable and reduced the paralegal hourly rate, finding a lower rate more reasonable for work in 2023 and 2024. The court did not state totals.

What the court said

Ms. Vonderburgh spent 0.4 hours on drafting certificates of service regarding discovery. The Court finds this task clerical and noncompensable.

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

Why it matters

The ruling shows that courts will separate time spent on claims outside the fee-bearing defense and will treat clerical tasks as noncompensable even when billed by legal staff. It also shows that a contract fee clause does not guarantee the requested hourly rate, as the court set a lower reasonable rate for paralegal work.

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 D. Hawaii approves and attorney fee motions in Hawaii 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.