Reduction Was Due To Inflated Hourly Rates And Failure To Provide Breakdown Of Fees.
Although we are going by public reports of this decision, it is a reminder to be candid in fee submissions and follow a court’s directives to provide allocations/breakdown of fees in fee petition/motion proceedings.
Catholic Benefits Association LCA v. Hargan, Case No. 5:14-cv-00685-R (W.D. Okla. Aug. 15, 2018) involved a case where a coalition of Catholic employers challenged a government’s contraceptive mandate under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) as violating the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Plaintiffs won a permanent injunction, then sought to recover their attorney’s fees in a request for around $3.1 million.
U.S. District Judge David L. Russell granted the request in part, slashing over 75% from the fee request. The principal reasons were that the hourly rate requested was inflated by one of the major law firms on the case and counsel resisted efforts by the court to clarify allocations/breakdown in fees—rulings which should be a cautionary lesson for all fee claimants, whether in federal or state courts.