D. Maryland cuts wage and hour fee award 10.5%, including for vague entries

What happened

The plaintiff in an FLSA wage and hour case requested $75,916 in attorney fees. The court awarded $67,920.72, a reduction of $7,995.28 or 10.5%. It cut 6.4 hours of duplicative time responding to interrogatories, reduced 0.4 hours for vague entries, excluded 5.0 hours (2.5 at the attorney rate and 2.5 at the paralegal rate) due to ambiguity, and applied a 5% reduction to the lodestar for limited success.

What the court said

the Court will reduce Plaintiff's fee petition by .4 hours.

The court also reduced the award for: duplicative staffing, other, limited success.

Why it matters

The ruling shows that courts will trim fee awards for time records that are duplicative, vague, or ambiguous, and will also reduce the lodestar for limited success. It illustrates that even a modest percentage cut can rest on several distinct recordkeeping and other problems rather than a single flaw.

How to keep this out of your fee petition

• Name the task, the document or person involved, and the purpose.
• Avoid stock phrases that could describe any day in any matter.
• Keep privileged detail general, but specific enough to show the work.

Cite this ruling

See hourly rates the D. Maryland approves and attorney fee motions in Maryland 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.