S.D. Florida cuts commercial fee award 5.2%, including for block billing

What happened

The fee applicant sought $1,883,635.50 under a contract fee clause. The court awarded $1,786,565.25, a reduction of $97,070.25. It first cut 4.5 hours, worth $3,037.50, from one attorney's total for double-billed entries. It then reduced the total fees from each declaration by 5% because of the amount of block billing present in both declarations. The figures do not include costs.

What the court said

Due to the sheer amount of block billing present in both declarations, the Undersigned will first reduce Attorney Weinshall's total hours by 4.5 due to his double-billed entries, and then proceed to discount the total amount of fees from each declaration by 5%.

The court also reduced the award for: duplicative staffing.

Why it matters

The ruling shows that block billing can draw a percentage cut applied across an entire fee request, not just to the specific entries affected. It also shows courts will separately remove hours shown to be double billed, so time records that combine tasks and repeat work invite reductions even in a contract fee case.

How to keep this out of your fee petition

• Record one task per entry, each with its own time.
• Write the entry when the work happens, not at the end of the week.
• If a task really is one unit of work, say what it was and what it produced.

Cite this ruling

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.