D. Nebraska cuts fee award 43.2%, including for block billing

What happened

The fee applicant sought $84,116.38 in sanctions fees for 309 hours. The court first applied a 10% reduction for excessive hours. It then excluded $10,342.00 in block-billed entries, $360.00 for vague entries, $7,092.00 for duplicative staffing, and $10,106.00 for entries tied to depositions not authorized by the sanctions order and also block billed. The court awarded $47,804.75, a reduction of $36,311.63, or 43.2%.

What the court said

This will include, in particular, Entry Nos. 16, 22, 23, 38, 55, 76, 77, and 78, totaling $10,342.00.

those two entries will also be reduced from Plaintiff’s award in the amount of $360.00.

The court also reduced the award for: excessive hours, duplicative staffing, unrelated claims.

Why it matters

The ruling shows that block billing can lead to exclusion of entire entries, not just trimming, and that vague descriptions and duplicative staffing draw separate cuts. Courts will reduce a lodestar for excessive hours before applying entry-specific exclusions, so time records must let the court separate compensable work from the rest.

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. Nebraska approves.

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