W.D. New York cuts social security fee award 8.2%, including for clerical work

What happened

Plaintiff's counsel requested $10,880.80 in fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act for 46.8 hours. The court awarded $9,992.71 for 42.12 hours, a reduction of $888.09. It applied a 10% across-the-board cut for excessive hours and a further 10% cut because time was billed for clerical tasks related to organizing filings and for reusing significant portions of prior filings. The figures do not include costs.

What the court said

reusing significant portions of Plaintiff's prior filings and billing for clerical tasks associated with organizing such filings was not

The court also reduced the award for: excessive hours.

Why it matters

The ruling shows that courts will reduce fee awards when time records include clerical tasks billed as legal work and when hours are excessive, applying percentage cuts to total hours rather than line-by-line adjustments.

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. New York approves and attorney fee motions in New York federal courts.

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