D. Arizona cuts wage and hour fee award, including for clerical work
Perez v. Evolet's Painting Service LLC et al, No. 2:25-cv-01886. District Court, D. Arizona, Judge Stephen M. McNamee. Decided . Read the opinion
The court applied the reductions below but did not state requested and awarded totals we could check against the opinion, so no overall percentage is shown.
Wage and hour · Fair Labor Standards Act
What happened
The plaintiff in an FLSA wage and hour case sought fees for 13.3 hours. The court reduced the hourly rate, finding a lower rate reasonable. It excluded 0.3 hours for filing documents, which it treated as clerical work rather than legal work, noting the time entries did not detail the time devoted to each task. It also excluded 1.2 hours spent in April and May 2026 reviewing orders on the first, denied fee motion and drafting the renewed motion, leaving 11.8 hours.
What the court said
filing documents is a clerical task that must be excluded. The amount of time devoted to each task was not detailed. The excluded entry is .3 hours.
The court also reduced the award for: hourly rate reduced, fees on fees.
Why it matters
The ruling shows courts separate clerical tasks from legal work on a fee petition and will strike entries that do not distinguish the two. It also shows that time spent litigating a denied fee motion and preparing a renewed one may be excluded, and that the court sets the hourly rate rather than accepting the rate requested.
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
Perez v. Evolet's Painting Service LLC, No. 2:25-cv-01886 (D. Ariz. Sept. 23, 2026) See hourly rates the D. Arizona approves and attorney fee motions in Arizona 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.
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