E.D. New York cuts wage and hour fee award 48.6%, including for clerical work

What happened

Troy Law, PLLC sought $93,764.67 in fees for 306.04 hours in a single-plaintiff wage and hour case. The magistrate judge recommended awarding $48,170.77, a reduction of $45,593.9 or 48.6%. The court set lower hourly rates for the attorneys and for nonlegal work. It also reduced total hours by 30% for clerical tasks billed as legal work, excessive hours, duplicative staffing, and other inflation.

What the court said

Tasks such as electronically filing documents, scheduling mediation services, and Bates-stamping document productions should have been delegated to junior staff.

The court also reduced the award for: hourly rate reduced, hourly rate reduced, hourly rate reduced, hourly rate reduced, excessive hours, duplicative staffing, other.

Why it matters

The ruling shows that courts will separate clerical tasks from legal work and apply a percentage cut to the whole fee request when time records mix the two. It also shows that a single-plaintiff wage and hour case with more than 300 hours can draw an excessive-hours reduction even where the plaintiff succeeded.

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 E.D. New York approves and attorney fee motions in New York 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.