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 wage and hour case. The court reduced the hourly rates sought for Mr. Schweitzer, Ms. Troy, and the nonlegal work of Ms. Kilaru and Mr. Dass. It then applied a 30% across-the-board reduction to the requested hours, citing excessive hours, inappropriate delegation of rudimentary work to senior attorneys, clerical work billed as legal work, and duplicative staffing. The court awarded $48,170.77, a reduction of $45,593.90.

What the court said

Considering Troy Law’s excessive hours, inappropriate delegation of rudimentary work to more senior attorneys, and wrongdoings that further prop up their bill, the Court finds appropriate an across-the-board reduction to Troy Law’s requested hours of 30 percent.

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

Why it matters

The ruling shows that a single across-the-board percentage can absorb several time-record problems at once, including clerical work billed as legal work, without item-by-item parsing. It also shows courts will adjust rates and hours together, so the final award can depart substantially from the amount requested even when the court does not reject the entire petition.

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.