E.D. Oklahoma cuts social security fee award 9.8%, including for clerical work

What happened

The claimant sought $10,669.95 in attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act for 43.95 hours. The court awarded $9,620, a reduction of $1,049.95. It cut 20% (8.3 hours) from the original briefing as excessive, disallowed 1.9 hours for clerical tasks such as filing and downloading documents, and reduced by 50% the amount requested for defending the fee application, leaving $845.25.

What the court said

the time billed for tasks such as logging into CM/ECF, filing and downloading documents, and preparing the civil coversheet and summons are clerical in nature and not compensable.

The court also reduced the award for: excessive hours, limited success.

Why it matters

The ruling shows courts will separate clerical tasks from legal work and trim hours they consider excessive, even in a modest EAJA request. It also shows that time spent defending a fee application can be cut for limited success, so the overall percentage reduction may combine several distinct adjustments.

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 E.D. Oklahoma approves and attorney fee motions in Oklahoma 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.