Court-approved attorney hourly rates: District Court, S.D. California

Copy these rulings as citations

Recent S.D. California rulings with the rates they approved, formatted for a fee petition. Check each ruling before citing it.

Rulings

Rates turn on experience, practice area, and the work done. Use these as a starting point and cite the rulings, not this page, in a fee petition.

• Aliff et al v. Vervent, Inc. et al

  Oct 7, 2026 · Other

  Role	Experience	Requested	Approved
  Partner		$960	$960
  Partner		$710	$710
  Associate		$550	$550
  Associate		$500	$500
  Paralegal		$280	$280

  The court's words

  Plaintiffs’ counsel seeks partner rates from $710 to $960, associate rates from $500 to $550, and paralegal rates of $280.

  Plaintiffs’ counsel seeks partner rates from $710 to $960, associate rates from $500 to $550, and paralegal rates of $280.

  Plaintiffs’ counsel seeks partner rates from $710 to $960, associate rates from $500 to $550, and paralegal rates of $280.

  Plaintiffs’ counsel seeks partner rates from $710 to $960, associate rates from $500 to $550, and paralegal rates of $280.

  Plaintiffs’ counsel seeks partner rates from $710 to $960, associate rates from $500 to $550, and paralegal rates of $280.

• Case Name in Social Security Case - Unavailable

  Oct 6, 2026 · Social Security · Statutory rate, not in medians

  Role	Experience	Requested	Approved
  Attorney		$258	$258
  Attorney		$266	$266
  Paralegal		$200	$200

  The court's words

  Plaintiff’s counsel calculated the lodestar using an hourly rate of $258.46 for 2.5 hours of attorney work performed in 2025 and an hourly rate of $265.51 for 25.3 hours of attorney work performed in 2026.

  Plaintiff’s counsel calculated the lodestar using an hourly rate of $258.46 for 2.5 hours of attorney work performed in 2025 and an hourly rate of $265.51 for 25.3 hours of attorney work performed in 2026.

  Additionally, paralegal time was billed at a rate of $200.00 per hour.

• Case Name in Immigration Case - Unavailable

  Sep 30, 2026 · Immigration · Statutory rate, not in medians

  Role	Experience	Requested	Approved
  Attorney		$258	$258

  The court's words

  The exception is time spent by Erin Rausch on the present motion. Petitioner asserts the Court should apply the statutory hourly rate of $258.46 to the 77 hours she expended on the present motion.

• Case Name in Immigration Case - Unavailable

  Sep 29, 2026 · Immigration · Statutory rate, not in medians

  Role	Experience	Requested	Approved
  Attorney			$258
  Paralegal			$150

  The court's words

  The Court, therefore, reduces Petitioner’s reported hours by 1.39 hours, and finds that 34.85 hours at the statutory rate of $258.46 per hour ($9,007.33) was reasonable given the complexity of this matter.

  Petitioner’s 1.05 hours of certified paralegal time at the market rate of $150.00 per hour ($157.50) and $64.33 in additional costs are not challenged on reasonable grounds and are also awarded.

• Twins Special Co., Ltd. v. Twins Special, LLC et al

  Sep 28, 2026 · Intellectual property

  Role	Experience	Requested	Approved
  Partner		$715	$715
  Partner		$600	$600
  Of counsel		$343	$343
  Associate		$301	$301
  Associate		$285	$285
  Paralegal		$189	$189

  The court's words

  Sanjay Bhandari Shareholder $715.00

  William Miller Shareholder $600.00

  Emily Chaidez Senior Counsel $342.66

  Neusha Etemad Associate $301.08

  Taylor King Associate $285.00

  Sheila Grela Paralegal $189.29

• American Heritage Railways, Inc. et al v. Hirou et al

  Aug 11, 2026 · Intellectual property

  Role	Experience	Requested	Approved
  Attorney	30 years	$500	$500
  Attorney	30 years	$600	$600
  other		$175	$175
  Paralegal		$175	$175

  The court's words

  Attorney Frederick Reich spent 87.7 hours on this case at $500 per hour

  Attorney Grant Teeple spent 2.5 hours at $600 per hour

  Legal Assistant Nicolas Espinosa spent 17.9 hours at $175 per hour

  Paralegal Karen Guerrero Ambrocio spent 3.3 hours at $175 per hour

• Eoll v. General Motors LLC et al

  Aug 10, 2026 · Consumer protection · Fee cut details

  Role	Experience	Requested	Approved
  Of counsel		$545	$545
  Of counsel		$575	$575
  Partner		$525	$525
  Associate		$450	$250
  Associate		$500	$250
  Associate		$475	$250
  Paralegal		$125	$125
  Paralegal		$150	$150

  The court's words

  Here, Ms. Pengilley’s rates of $545 and $575 fall within the range that courts in this district have deemed reasonable for attorneys with comparable experience.

  Here, Ms. Pengilley’s rates of $545 and $575 fall within the range that courts in this district have deemed reasonable for attorneys with comparable experience.

  Earlier this year, a court in this district found Ms. Yang’s requested rate of $525 per hour reasonable. Moron, 2026 WL 357534, at *3. The Court agrees and declines to adjust Ms. Yang’s 2025 rate.

  The Court will adjust Ms. Plata’s hourly rates for both 2025 and 2026 to $250.00 to reflect her limited practice experience.

  The Court will adjust Ms. Plata’s hourly rates for both 2025 and 2026 to $250.00 to reflect her limited practice experience.

  Additionally, the Court will reduce the hourly rates of associate attorneys Vivian Chen and Gary Balyezyan, given that they have less experience than Ms. Plata.

  The Court accordingly finds the hourly rates of $125 and $150 for paralegals, legal assistants, and case managers reasonable.

  The Court accordingly finds the hourly rates of $125 and $150 for paralegals, legal assistants, and case managers reasonable.

• Case Name in Social Security Case - Unavailable

  Jul 13, 2026 · Social Security · Statutory rate, not in medians

  Role	Experience	Requested	Approved
  Attorney		$258	$258
  Paralegal		$125	$125

  The court's words

  Consistent with the Ninth Circuit’s hourly EAJA rates, Plaintiff’s counsel billed at a rate of $258.46 per hour. ECF No. 19-2 at 1.

  Additionally, paralegal time was billed at a rate of $125.00 per hour. Id. As such, the Court finds that the hourly rates billed by counsel and the paralegal are reasonable.

• Case Name in Immigration Case - Unavailable

  Jun 29, 2026 · Immigration · Statutory rate, not in medians

  Role	Experience	Requested	Approved
  Paralegal		$50	$50

  The court's words

  plus 3 legal-assistant hours at a rate of $50 per hour (see ECF 8-3, at 1)

• Case Name in Social Security Case - Unavailable

  Jun 26, 2026 · Social Security · Statutory rate, not in medians

  Role	Experience	Requested	Approved
  Attorney		$252	$252
  Attorney		$258	$258
  Paralegal		$179	$179

  The court's words

  Plaintiff’s counsel billed at a rate of $251.84 per hour for work performed in 2024 and $258.46 per hour for work performed in 2025.

  Plaintiff’s counsel billed at a rate of $251.84 per hour for work performed in 2024 and $258.46 per hour for work performed in 2025.

  Additionally, paralegal time was billed at a rate of $179.00 per hour.

• Stanz v. Brown et al

  Jun 23, 2026 · Other

  Role	Experience	Requested	Approved
  Attorney		$550	$550

  The court's words

  Plaintiff contends that amount is a result of 22.9 hours of legal work at a standard billing rate of $550.00 per hour, directly related to drafting the Ex Parte Motion.

• Case Name in Immigration Case - Unavailable

  Jun 23, 2026 · Immigration · Statutory rate, not in medians

  Role	Experience	Requested	Approved
  Attorney		$258	$258

  The court's words

  (requesting "258.46" as the attorneys' hourly rate)

• Gadsden v. McGrath

  Jun 18, 2026 · Civil rights

  Role	Experience	Requested	Approved
  Attorney	18 years	$700	$700
  Attorney	23 years	$1,000	$1,000
  Attorney	12 years	$850	$850
  other		$150	$150

  The court's words

  Plaintiff requests the following hourly rates for the three attorneys who worked on this case: (1) $700 per hour for Alex Coolman, (2) $1,000 per hour for Stephen Demik, and (3) $850 per hour for Kimberly Hutchison.

  Plaintiff requests the following hourly rates for the three attorneys who worked on this case: (1) $700 per hour for Alex Coolman, (2) $1,000 per hour for Stephen Demik, and (3) $850 per hour for Kimberly Hutchison.

  Plaintiff requests the following hourly rates for the three attorneys who worked on this case: (1) $700 per hour for Alex Coolman, (2) $1,000 per hour for Stephen Demik, and (3) $850 per hour for Kimberly Hutchison.

  Plaintiff requests $150 per hour for “Litigation Technology Manager” Raymond Christensen, who provided “[a]udiovisual/exhibits assistance . . . at trial.”

• Batta Fulkerson, LLP v. Bulldog Law, P.C.

  May 8, 2026 · Intellectual property

  Role	Experience	Requested	Approved
  Partner		$695	$695
  Attorney	20 years	$650	$650
  Associate		$400	$400
  Associate		$350	$350
  Paralegal		$150	$150

  The court's words

  Kristen G. Roberts Managing Attorney $695

  Amanda L. Bruss Senior Attorney $650

  Allegra Garside Associate $400

  Savannah Swartz Associate $350

  Kayley Seedborg Paralegal $150

• Case Name in Social Security Case - Unavailable

  Apr 21, 2026 · Social Security · Statutory rate, not in medians

  Role	Experience	Requested	Approved
  Attorney		$258	$258

  The court's words

  Plaintiff’s counsel submits a timesheet documenting 33.9 hours of work in 2025, at a rate of $258.46 per hour, for a total of $8,761.94 in attorneys’ fees plus $405 in costs.

Earlier rulings

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