N.D. Texas cuts fee award 61%, including for block billing

What happened

Kirkland & Ellis LLP, counsel for the fee applicant, requested $400,199.6 in sanctions fees for 446.5 hours. The court awarded $156,067.5, a reduction of $244,132.1 or 61.0%. The court found the firm's national rates inconsistent with Dallas market rates for similar work and reduced the hourly rate. It then applied a 20% discount to the total fee for block billing and an additional 5% discount for time spent on document review and clerical work, which the court found outside the fee award's scope.

What the court said

applying a discount of –20% to account for block billing and an additional –5% to account for counsels' time spent on document review and clerical work

The Court agrees with Megatel, however, that a discount of –5% for document review and clerical work is warranted. Document review is outside the scope of the Court's fee award.

The court also reduced the award for: hourly rate reduced.

Why it matters

The ruling shows that courts will adjust requested rates to the local market and apply percentage discounts when time entries are block billed or include clerical tasks. It illustrates that even large fee requests can be substantially reduced based on the content and format of time records.

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