D. Arizona cuts wage and hour fee award 25.4%, including for clerical work

What happened

The fee applicant in this Fair Labor Standards Act case asked for $7,609.50 for 17.1 hours. The court awarded $5,674, a reduction of $1,935.50 or 25.4%. It reduced the hourly rate, excluded 1.6 hours of clerical or secretarial tasks billed as legal work, excluded 0.3 hours in the interests of justice, and excluded a further 0.3 hours for drafting and filing a magistrate consent form, which it treated as administrative or clerical. The award covers 14.9 hours.

What the court said

The total for the above, disallowed clerical or secretarial tasks is 1.6 hours.

The Court further identifies an additional task entry that falls squarely under administrative or clerical tasks; “Draft, file Magistrate Consent Form (0.3 hours)”

The court also reduced the award for: hourly rate reduced, other.

Why it matters

The ruling shows that courts review time entries task by task and will separate clerical or administrative work from legal work, excluding those hours from the fee award even in a modest case. It also shows that a reasonable hourly rate is set by the court rather than taken from the 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

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.