W.D. Texas cuts wage and hour fee award 50%, including for clerical work

What happened

The Sanford Law Firm sought $379,738 in fees under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The court awarded $189,978.30, a reduction of $189,759.70. It accepted the plaintiffs' agreement to cut 4.6 hours totaling $1,415 for clerical work billed as legal work and to halve travel time. It reduced the hourly rates sought, then applied a 40% across-the-board reduction for limited success, duplicative staffing and clerical work.

What the court said

Plaintiffs do not intend to quibble over the 4.6 hours totaling $1,415.00 identified by Defendant and therefore agree to a reduction to Plaintiffs' fee request in this amount.

The Court finds some reduction for these matters warranted.

The court also reduced the award for: travel time, hourly rate reduced, limited success, duplicative staffing.

Why it matters

The ruling shows courts will separate clerical tasks from legal work on a fee petition and will apply a single across-the-board percentage when several problems affect the hours, rather than pricing each entry. It also shows that agreed reductions on specific entries do not shield the rest of the request from a broader cut.

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 W.D. Texas approves and attorney fee motions in Texas 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.