D. Oregon cuts wage and hour fee award 3.3% over clerical work

What happened

The fee applicant in Randall v. Im et al asked the District of Oregon for $26,475 in attorney fees for 70.6 hours in a wage and hour case. Judge Amy M. Baggio awarded $25,612.50, a reduction of $862.50 or 3.3%. The court excluded 2.3 hours that had been billed as legal work but were clerical in nature, leaving 68.3 hours. The figures do not include costs.

What the court said

Those billings, totaling 2.3 hours, are excluded.

Why it matters

The order shows that courts will separate clerical tasks from legal work when reviewing time records on a fee petition, and will exclude those hours even when the overall reduction is small. It also shows that a modest cut can rest entirely on how entries describe the work performed.

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

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