D. Hawaii cuts ERISA benefits fee award 63.8%, including for clerical work

What happened

The fee applicant in an ERISA benefits case asked for $1,569.33 in fees and costs. The court awarded $568.06, a reduction of $1,001.27 or 63.8%, with the figures including costs. The court reduced the requested hours by 2.5 hours for clerical work billed as legal work, which it said may not be compensated. It also reduced 0.9 hours for work by timekeeper A1, applying a further reduction to the hours requested for that timekeeper.

What the court said

this Court may not award hours for clerical work performed

The court also reduced the award for: other.

Why it matters

The ruling shows that courts will separate clerical tasks from legal work when reviewing time records on a fee petition, and will reduce hours for entries that do not reflect compensable legal services. It also shows that courts will adjust hours attributed to individual timekeepers when the records support a reduction.

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. Hawaii approves and attorney fee motions in Hawaii 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.