N.D. Texas cuts commercial fee award 77.2%, including for block billing

What happened

Shamoun & Norman LLP, counsel for the fee applicant, requested $65,456.26 in fees. Judge David C. Godbey awarded $14,944.96, a reduction of $50,511.30 or 77.2%. The court cut $39,391.77 for 84.75 hours of excessive or inadequately documented entries, applied a 20% reduction of $1,822.50 to a subset of entries for block billing, reduced $877.50 and $237.50 for clerical work billed as legal work, and cut $8,182.03 (12.5%) for inaccuracies in 15-minute billing increments.

What the court said

The Court will apply an across-the-board reduction of 20% to this amount, which results in a reduction of $1,822.50.

Thus, the Court reduces the total fee amount by $877.50 to account for clerical work.

Here, S&N requested a fee for noncompensable clerical work. . . . Thus, the Court reduces the award by $237.50.

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

Why it matters

The ruling shows that a fee petition can lose most of its value when time entries are excessive, block billed, or include clerical tasks, and when billing increments overstate time. Courts apply separate reductions for each problem, and the combined effect can far exceed any single percentage cut.

How to keep this out of your fee petition

• Record one task per entry, each with its own time.
• Write the entry when the work happens, not at the end of the week.
• If a task really is one unit of work, say what it was and what it produced.

Cite this ruling

See hourly rates the N.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.