E.D. Pennsylvania cuts civil rights fee award 54.5%, including for clerical work

What happened

The plaintiff's counsel at Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann & Freudenberger, LLP requested $290,890 in fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988 for 535.7 hours. The court awarded $132,354.95, a reduction of $158,535.05 or 54.5%, excluding costs. The court applied a 30% cut for duplicative staffing in preparing the fee petition, a 30% cut for junior attorneys billing clerical work that paralegals could have done, a 30% cut for block billing, including a partner billing four blocks of 5.4 to 7.3 hours to review and edit the fee petition, and a 30% cut for missing contemporaneous records.

What the court said

junior attorneys completing work that could have been done by paralegals. Such an allocation of work is unreasonable.

a partner billing at $900 per hour billed four blocks of time ranging from 5.4 to 7.3 hours to “review/edit fee petition”

we fail to see why it is reasonable for defendants to pay for counsel’s failure to keep detailed contemporaneous records

The court also reduced the award for: duplicative staffing.

Why it matters

The ruling shows courts will reduce fee awards when time records show duplicated work, clerical tasks billed at attorney rates, block entries that obscure the work performed, and a lack of detailed contemporaneous records. Each problem supported a separate percentage cut, so the quality of the billing records directly affected the amount awarded.

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. Pennsylvania approves and attorney fee motions in Pennsylvania federal courts.

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