D. Arizona cuts wage and hour fee award 10% over clerical work

What happened

Counsel for the plaintiff in Romero v. Synergy Restoration LLC et al requested $7,120 in fees under the Fair Labor Standards Act for 16 hours of work. Judge Michael T. Liburdi reviewed the time sheet and found that counsel had billed for clerical and administrative tasks. The court reduced the hours by 1.6, to 14.4, and awarded $6,408, a reduction of $712 or 10%. The figures do not include costs.

What the court said

Upon review of Counsel's time sheet, the Court finds Counsel billed for clerical and administrative tasks and will reduce Counsel's time for the following hours

Why it matters

The ruling shows that courts review time entries line by line and separate clerical or administrative tasks from legal work, reducing the hours billed for those tasks even in a small fee 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.