N.D. Alabama cuts employment fee award 33.1%, including for block billing

What happened

Wiggins Childs, counsel for the fee applicant, requested $1,613,798 in fees under 42 U.S.C. Section 1988. Judge L. Scott Coogler awarded $1,079,155.32, a reduction of $534,642.68 or 33.1%. The court excluded 117.8 hours, 153 hours, and 4.5 hours spent on unrelated claims, applied a 10% across-the-board cut to the block-billed hours, and reduced the lodestar by 15% for limited success. The awarded hours totaled 1997.97. The figures do not include costs.

What the court said

the Court finds that a 10% across-the-board cut in the block-billed hours is appropriate

The court also reduced the award for: unrelated claims, unrelated claims, unrelated claims, limited success.

Why it matters

The ruling shows that a court will reduce hours tied to unsuccessful or unrelated claims and will apply a percentage cut to block-billed entries it cannot parse. It also shows that a lodestar may be reduced further for limited success, so precise, claim-specific time records matter on a fee petition.

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 N.D. Alabama approves.

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.