E.D. Tennessee cuts civil rights fee award 54.8%, including for clerical work

What happened

The plaintiffs' firm, Civil Rights Corps, requested $1,111,130.07 in fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988 for 1,710.5 hours. The magistrate judge recommended awarding $502,072.50, a reduction of $609,057.57 or 54.8%. The court reduced the hourly rates sought for the attorneys and the litigation support specialist. The plaintiffs agreed to subtract 12.7 hours for tasks that might be considered secretarial, and the court applied a 40% reduction to 118 hours spent on a dispute.

What the court said

Plaintiffs agreed that it was appropriate to subtract 12.7 hours from those requested for Coleman Powell, a litigation support specialist, to account for tasks he performed that might be considered secretarial in nature

The court also reduced the award for: hourly rate reduced, hourly rate reduced, hourly rate reduced, other.

Why it matters

The ruling shows that courts will adjust requested rates to prevailing local market levels and will separate clerical tasks from legal work, while also applying percentage cuts to specific categories of hours rather than accepting a fee petition as filed.

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. Tennessee approves and attorney fee motions in Tennessee 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.