S.D. Texas cuts wage and hour fee award 1.2%, including for clerical work

What happened

The Estate of Terry Gentry sought $86,065 in attorney fees under the Fair Labor Standards Act, with Bruckner Burch PLLC as counsel. The court awarded $85,035, a reduction of $1,030. It cut 1.1 hours ($715) for travel time and $315 for 0.7 hours of clerical work billed as legal work. The figures do not include costs.

What the court said

HR-IT complains that I should slice off $315 for 0.7 hours of work performed by Plaintiffs’ counsel that was clerical in nature.

The court also reduced the award for: travel time.

Why it matters

The ruling shows that courts will trim fee requests for time that is not legal work, including clerical tasks and travel, even when the overall reduction is small. It also shows that a fee applicant's time records must separate legal work from administrative tasks to withstand scrutiny.

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 S.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.