S.D. Florida cuts fee award, including for clerical work | LegalTime AI

S.D. Florida cuts fee award, including for clerical work

Godonou v. Allied Transportation Group LLC, No. 9:24-cv-80239. District Court, S.D. Florida, Judge Robin L. Rosenberg. Decided . Read the opinion

The court applied the reductions below but did not state requested and awarded totals we could check against the opinion, so no overall percentage is shown.

Fee applicant's counsel: Cox Law Group

What happened

Cox Law Group sought fees for 79.2 hours. The court awarded 67.4 hours. It reduced 4.0 hours by one-third as excessive, struck 1.9 hours of clerical entries billed as legal work, and set a single rate for all paralegals. The court did not state dollar totals for the request or the award.

What the court said

Clerical work billed as legal work
Either way, most of the billing entries corresponding to those initials are clerical in nature and should be stricken.

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

Why it matters

The ruling shows courts will separate clerical tasks from legal work on a fee petition and reduce hours billed at excessive levels, and that paralegal rates may be set uniformly rather than as billed.

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

Godonou v. Allied Transportation Group LLC, No. 9:24-cv-80239 (S.D. Fla. Mar. 27, 2025)

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.

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