D. Colorado cuts fee award 45.5%, including for clerical work

What happened

The fee applicant sought $306,842.50 in attorney fees. The court awarded $167,093.75, a reduction of $139,748.75 or 45.5%. The court excluded hours for work on unrelated claims, including service of the complaint, a motion to dismiss, and a status conference, as well as efforts on non-asserted employment claims, alleged bribery of Chinese officials, and possible FCPA claims. It also disallowed time for seeking extensions, researching meet and confer obligations, and reviewing civil practice standards, reduced excessive time for the fee motion, and excluded administrative tasks such as preparing invoices and calculating hours.

What the court said

Administrative tasks, like preparing invoices and calculating hours, are also not recoverable.

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

Why it matters

The ruling shows that courts will separate compensable work from time spent on unsuccessful or unrelated theories and will not award fees for clerical or administrative tasks. It also confirms that time on procedural matters and excessive billing entries can be cut even when the overall fee request is substantial.

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. Colorado approves and attorney fee motions in Colorado 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.