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 sought fees under the Fair Labor Standards Act for 13.3 hours. The magistrate judge recommended a reduced hourly rate as reasonable, excluded 0.3 hours for filing documents because that is clerical work and the time devoted to each task was not detailed, and recommended excluding 1.2 hours spent in April and May 2026 reviewing orders on the first, denied fee motion and drafting the renewed motion. The recommendation leaves 11.8 hours. The court did not state dollar totals.
What the court said
Second, 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 that courts separate clerical tasks from legal work on a fee petition and will exclude entries that do not detail how time was divided among tasks. It also shows that time spent litigating a prior, denied fee motion may be excluded from a renewed request.
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. Oct. 9, 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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