Bankr. E.D. Tennessee cuts bankruptcy fee award 26.9%, including for block billing

What happened

Dickinson Wright PLLC, counsel for the fee applicant, requested $426,730.97 in fees and costs in the Echo MAV, LLC bankruptcy matter. Judge Suzanne H. Bauknight awarded $311,852.45, a reduction of $114,878.52 or 26.9%. The court applied a 15% across-the-board rate-equivalent reduction and a 20% global hours reduction for recordwide timekeeping concerns, including numerous block-billed and multi-task entries. The court also cited unrelated claims, duplicative staffing among senior lawyers, travel time, local counsel search work, and excessive hours.

What the court said

Global hours reduction for recordwide timekeeping concerns, including numerous block-billed and multi-task entries

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

Why it matters

The ruling shows that a bankruptcy court will apply a percentage reduction across the board when time entries combine multiple tasks and cannot be separated, rather than parsing each entry line by line. It also shows that recordkeeping concerns can be addressed alongside rate, staffing, and scope issues in a single overall reduction.

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

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.