E.D. New York cuts wage and hour fee award 61.9%, including for missing records

What happened

The fee applicant in this Fair Labor Standards Act case asked for $5,250 in attorney fees. The court awarded $2,000, a reduction of $3,250 or 61.9%. It reduced the hourly rate, finding the quality and documentation of the work did not support the rate or time requested. It also found the attorney kept no contemporaneous records and submitted an obvious reconstruction of tasks with no dates appended to any of the reconstructed tasks.

What the court said

it is clear he kept no such records.

What he submitted is an obvious reconstruction of tasks undertaken with no dates appended to any of the reconstructed tasks.

The court also reduced the award for: hourly rate reduced.

Why it matters

The ruling shows that a fee petition resting on reconstructed time rather than contemporaneous records can draw a substantial cut, and that courts may reduce both the rate and the hours when the documentation does not support the request.

How to keep this out of your fee petition

• Record time the same day the work happens.
• Keep the original records, not only a cleaned-up summary.
• Be able to show when each entry was created.

Cite this ruling

See hourly rates the E.D. New York approves and attorney fee motions in New York federal courts.

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