E.D. California cuts disability access fee award 64.3%, including for clerical work

What happened

The fee applicant sought $5,000 for 14 hours in a disability access case under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The magistrate judge recommended awarding $1,785, a reduction of $3,215 or 64.3%. The court cut 2.2 hours, 0.1 hours and 0.5 hours billed for purely clerical tasks, with the 0.5-hour entry also concerning a dismissed defendant. It disallowed 1.1 hours and 0.4 hours for duplicative staffing and reduced 2.9 hours as excessive for preparing the motion.

What the court said

Because the above time entries are for purely clerical tasks, 2.2 hours should be reduced from Mr. Morin’s hours spent on this matter.

The court finds it proper to reduce this entry by 0.1 hours.

The undersigned recommends that this entry be reduced by 0.5 hours, as it includes purely clerical tasks and because it concerns prosecution of a defendant who has now been dismissed from this case.

The court also reduced the award for: duplicative staffing, duplicative staffing, excessive hours.

Why it matters

The ruling shows that courts separate clerical tasks from legal work when reviewing time records, and that entries reflecting duplicative staffing or excessive time are reduced even in a small fee request. It also shows that a single entry can be cut for more than one reason, here clerical content and work against a dismissed party.

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. California approves and attorney fee motions in California federal courts.

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