S.D. Florida cuts intellectual property fee award 22%, including for clerical work

What happened

Stinson LLP, counsel for the fee applicant in Conley v. Vacanti, asked Judge Raag Singhal of the S.D. Florida for $731,574.50 in intellectual property fees, excluding costs. The court awarded $570,826.80, a reduction of $160,747.70 or 22.0%. It reduced a summer associate's hourly rate, found one timekeeper's technical work not compensable as attorneys' fees, halved another timekeeper's hours for clerical work billed as legal work, and applied a 20% across-the-board cut for block billing, excessive hours, vague entries and time on state law claims.

What the court said

Accordingly, I will reduce Ms. Parks’ hours by 50 percent, resulting in 36.9 hours.

considering the instances of block billing, excessive time spent on certain tasks, vague time entries, and some time spent solely on state law claims, I conclude that a 20 percent across-the-board reduction is appropriate.

considering the instances of block billing, excessive time spent on certain tasks, vague time entries, and some time spent solely on state law claims, I conclude that a 20 percent across-the-board reduction is appropriate.

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

Why it matters

The order shows that a single across-the-board percentage can absorb several time-record problems at once, while separate line-item cuts address rates, nonlegal work and clerical tasks. For fee applicants, it illustrates that courts will parse entries by timekeeper and task before applying a global discount.

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.