D. Maryland cuts social security fee award 55.4%, including for clerical work

What happened

The plaintiff sought $14,649.15 in attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The court awarded $6,539.38, a reduction of $8,109.77 or 55.4%. It cut 4.6 hours and 1.5 hours of paralegal time billed for clerical work, 29.0 hours of attorney time for file review and issue identification, and allowed 1.0 attorney hour for the reply instead of the 2.1 hours billed.

What the court said

Therefore, Plaintiff's request will be reduced by 4.6 hours of paralegal time.

Plaintiff's request will be further reduced by 1.5 hours of paralegal time.

The court also reduced the award for: excessive hours, fees on fees.

Why it matters

The ruling shows that courts will separate clerical tasks from legal work when reviewing time records, and will reduce hours for tasks the court considers excessive or duplicative. It also shows that time spent on the fee reply itself may be trimmed.

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

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