By Zachary Kalmbach. A California fee dispute that resulted in a significantly reduced fee award highlights a number of improper billing practices. The case arose from a real estate dispute and was ultimately dismissed because of a multitude of discovery violations. Defendant subsequently moved for $511,279.65 in attorneys’ fees. The Court reduced the award by […] Read More...
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Posted On February 27th, 2018 by Legal Fee Advisors
By Zachary Kalmbach. A Texas court recently cut a fee award by 35%, in large part because a firm demonstrated poor billing judgment by block billing and overstating the number of hours expended on the case. In Kiewit Offshore Services v. Dresser-Rand Global Services, Plaintiff, Kiewit, filed a breach of contract suit against Dresser-Rand. The […] Read More...
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Posted On February 13th, 2018 by Legal Fee Advisors
By Zachary Kalmbach. A Massachusetts fee dispute highlights the consequences of several improper billing practices, including block billing, charging for clerical work, and overstaffing. The case arose out of an employment dispute and resulted in a jury verdict for plaintiff, who subsequently moved for an award of $487,150 in attorneys’ fees and $83,639.64 in costs. […] Read More...
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Posted On January 30th, 2018 by Legal Fee Advisors
By Zachary Kalmbach. A court’s refusal to charge national billing rates in an attorneys’ fees dispute drastically reduced a fee award in 2017. Safelite v. Rothman, a Minnesota federal court case, arose out of enforcement and regulatory actions taken by the Minnesota Department of Commerce (DOC) concerning plaintiff Safelite. In April 2015, Safelite sued the […] Read More...
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Posted On January 17th, 2018 by Legal Fee Advisors
By Zachary Kalmbach. A California court reduced a fee award by 53% to account for excessive billing practices, overstaffing, and segregation of claims. In Amusement Art v. Life is Beautiful, plaintiff Amusement Art filed a number of intellectual property claims against defendant Life is Beautiful. Plaintiff asserted various state and common law claims and federal […] Read More...
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Comments Off on California Court Refuses to Award Fees for Supplemental Claims, Slashes Fees in Half
By Zachary Kalmbach. A fee award in a 2017 District of Arizona case, Maricopa County v. Office Depot, Inc., highlights the importance of properly allocating work between experienced attorneys and associates and provides several examples of excessive billing. The case involved plaintiff Maricopa County’s purchase of office supplies from defendant Office Depot, with the Plaintiff […] Read More...
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Posted On December 19th, 2017 by Legal Fee Advisors
By Zachary Kalmbach. A fee award in a December 2013 Southern District of New York case, Baez v. New York City Housing Authority, demonstrates several factors which can lead to a reduction to a fee award in fee-shifting cases. Public housing tenants filed a class action suit against the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), […] Read More...
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Comments Off on New York Court Slashes Fees by 60% for Inefficiencies and Excessive, Vague, and Block-Billed Time Entries
Posted On December 5th, 2017 by Legal Fee Advisors
By Jillian Robbins. When the City of Worcester adopted ordinances aimed at controlling aggressive panhandling, city residents claimed this constituted a violation of the First Amendment and sought injunctive relief and monetary damages. After making it all the way to the Supreme Court, the plaintiffs were victorious, and the law firm and governmental agency that […] Read More...
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Comments Off on Despite Attorneys’ Voluntary Reduction in Hours Spent, Massachusetts Court Cuts Fee Request by 50%
Posted On October 12th, 2017 by Legal Fee Advisors
By Jillians Robbins. The victorious Plaintiff in a breach of contract and breach of warranty case against a piping company requested $352,283.14 in attorney’s fees and costs. The District of South Dakota found that because some of the firm’s invoices were too vague, and that the firm failed to segregate time for the state law […] Read More...
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Posted On September 21st, 2017 by Legal Fee Advisors
By Jillian Robbins and Emily Wilson. The employee-plaintiffs, in a successful ERISA violation claim against their defendant-employer, sought over $7.6 million in attorney’s fees in December 2016. The Western District of New York rejected Defendants’ argument that Plaintiffs were not entitled to any fees at all, but nonetheless reduced the amount of fees sought in […] Read More...
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Comments Off on Contemporaneous time records and a deceased attorney – a WDNY legal fee conundrum
