E.D. California cuts disability access fee award over clerical work

What happened

The fee applicant sought attorney fees under the Americans with Disabilities Act in a disability access case. The court did not state total amounts requested or awarded. It found that 0.3 hours of Whitney Law's time was clerical work billed as legal work and deducted that time. It also excluded the 0.3 hours requested for Isaac Medrano's time on the same basis.

What the court said

The Court therefore will deduct .30 hours from Whitney Law’s time and exclude the .30 hours requested for Isaac Medrano’s time.

Why it matters

The ruling shows that courts will separate clerical tasks from legal work when reviewing time records on a fee petition, and will reduce the award by the hours attributed to clerical tasks even when the reduction is small.

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 E.D. California approves and attorney fee motions in California federal courts.

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