District of Columbia cuts FOIA fee award 28.4%, including for reconstructed time

What happened

The plaintiff in a FOIA suit against the U.S. Secret Service requested $94,949.20 in fees and costs. Judge Randolph D. Moss awarded $67,995.40, a reduction of $26,953.80. The court applied a 10% cut for limited success and a 15% cut for excessive hours, deducted $1,250 for duplicative staffing, and removed 1.9 hours ($1,370.70) of reconstructed time spent reviewing court orders. On fees on fees, the court applied a 25% cut, an additional 2% for reconstructed entries, and deducted $602 for duplicative or reconstructed entries.

What the court said

The Court will therefore deduct the 1.9 hours that Topic spent reviewing court orders during the merits portion of the case, in the amount of $1370.70.

the Court applies an additional 2% reduction to the fees on fees to compensate for any time Plaintiff spent reconstructing entries.

The court also reduced the award for: limited success, excessive hours, duplicative staffing, fees on fees, duplicative staffing.

Why it matters

The ruling shows that courts will reduce fee awards for reconstructed time entries, even alongside other grounds, and will apply separate cuts to fees on fees. It illustrates how judges scrutinize time records for duplicative staffing and entries that were not contemporaneously recorded.

How to keep this out of your fee petition

• Track time from the first day, even in matters you expect to be contingent or fee-shifting.
• If you must reconstruct time, say so and explain the sources.
• Do not round or estimate to fill gaps.

Cite this ruling

See hourly rates the District of Columbia approves and attorney fee motions in District of Columbia federal courts.

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