S.D. Ohio cuts employment fee award, including for clerical work

What happened

The fee applicant sought attorney fees under Title VII in Ousley v. CG Consulting, LLC. The court did not state total amounts requested or awarded. It reduced Attorney Hanselman's billed time by 32.2 hours because clerical work had been billed as legal work. It also reduced the time billed by each timekeeper before May 16, 2023 by 60% because that time related to unrelated claims. Judge Sarah D. Morrison issued the order.

What the court said

the Court determines that it is appropriate to reduce Attorney Hanselman's billed time by 32.2 hours.

The court also reduced the award for: unrelated claims.

Why it matters

The ruling shows courts will separate clerical tasks from legal work when reviewing time records and will cut time tied to unrelated claims, applying a percentage reduction to affected entries rather than accepting the submitted hours as billed.

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 S.D. Ohio approves and attorney fee motions in Ohio 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.