N.D. California cuts fee award 34.9%, including for clerical work

What happened

Innovative Sports Management sought $8,750 in attorney fees. Judge Beth Labson Freeman awarded $5,700, a reduction of $3,050 or 34.9%. The court excluded 1.25 hours spent on clerical tasks such as reviewing and filing an issued summons. It also declined to award fees for 6.5 hours billed by an unnamed research attorney. The award totaled 7.6 hours.

What the court said

It appears that Mr. Riley spent 1.25 hours on clerical tasks such as “Review and Filing of Issued Summons,”

The court also reduced the award for: other.

Why it matters

The ruling shows that courts separate clerical tasks from legal work when reviewing time records, and that entries attributed to an unnamed research attorney may draw no fee at all. Fee applicants should expect line-item scrutiny of who did what and how tasks are described.

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 N.D. California approves and attorney fee motions in California 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.