E.D. New York cuts employment fee award 2.8%, including for block billing

What happened

The plaintiff's counsel in an FLSA case asked for $118,770 in fees and costs. Judge Pamela K. Chen awarded $115,393.37, a reduction of $3,376.63. The court cut 26.3 attorney hours, from 246.3 to 220, because billing in block increments produced marginal time increases that likely did not reflect time spent. The court also reduced the hourly rate for 14.8 hours of paralegal work, lowering the total fee amount for that work.

What the court said

As billing is done in block increments, this creates marginal increases in total time which are likely not accurate reflections of the time spent. The Court therefore decreases the total number of hours Plaintiff’s counsel spent litigating this case from 246.3 attorney hours to 220

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

Why it matters

The order shows that block billing can lead a court to reduce hours even when the overall cut is small, and that paralegal rates are reviewed separately from attorney time. It also shows courts may trim time entries without a line-by-line analysis when the records make precise review difficult.

How to keep this out of your fee petition

• Record one task per entry, each with its own time.
• Write the entry when the work happens, not at the end of the week.
• If a task really is one unit of work, say what it was and what it produced.

Cite this ruling

See hourly rates the E.D. New York approves and attorney fee motions in New York federal courts.

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