D. Colorado cuts commercial fee award 29.7%, including for clerical work

What happened

The fee applicant sought $47,933 in attorney fees under a contract fee clause. The court awarded $33,707.25, a reduction of $14,225.75. It declined to award 3.3 hours and 0.3 hours billed for calendaring deadlines, and 20 estimated hours for work on the fee motion. It reduced the remaining hours by 10% for duplicative billing, including internal communications and work on the same tasks, and lowered two attorneys' hourly rates.

What the court said

the Court will not award the 3.3 hours billed by Ms. Vos and the 0.3 hours billed by Ms. Davis for calendaring of deadlines.

the Court will not award the 3.3 hours billed by Ms. Vos and the 0.3 hours billed by Ms. Davis for calendaring of deadlines.

the Court will not award the “estimated” 20 hours requested for work on this motion because a party seeking an award of attorney’s fees must establish the reasonableness of each dollar and each hour

The court also reduced the award for: duplicative staffing, hourly rate reduced, hourly rate reduced.

Why it matters

The ruling shows courts examine each time entry on a fee petition, not just the total. Time for clerical tasks such as calendaring is not compensable as legal work, and estimated rather than recorded hours may be rejected. Courts may also apply a percentage cut for duplicative entries and adjust rates, so the documented record drives the final award.

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 D. Colorado approves and attorney fee motions in Colorado 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.