Opinion ID: 797203
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Across-the-Board Reduction for Billing by the Quarter-Hour

Text: 23 The district court also imposed a 20 percent across-the-board reduction on Welch's requested hours because Kantor & Kantor billed in quarter-hour increments. The district court was in the best position to determine in the first instance whether counsel's practice of billing by the quarter-hour resulted in a request for compensation for hours not reasonably expended on the litigation. See Chalmers, 796 F.2d at 1211. We accord considerable deference to that finding, Van Gerwen, 214 F.3d at 1047, and will not disturb it where, as here, the applicant has failed to bear her burden of submitting detailed time records justifying the hours claimed to have been expended. See In re Wash. Pub. Power Supply Sys. Sec. Litig., 19 F.3d 1291, 1305 (9th Cir.1994). 24 The district court reasonably concluded that Kantor & Kantor's practice of billing by the quarter-hour resulted in a request for excessive hours. Unlike its reduction for block billing, the district court expressly correlated its reduction for quarter hour billing to Kantor & Kantor's actual over-billing. Having reviewed the firm's summary time sheet, the court found the hours were inflated because counsel billed a minimum of 15 minutes for numerous phone calls and e-mails that likely took a fraction of the time. Our own review of the time sheet confirms that it is replete with quarter-hour or half-hour charges for the drafting of letters, telephone calls and intra-office conferences. We therefore affirm the district court's reduction for quarter-hour billing. 25 C. Reduction for Intra-Office Conferences, Preparation of a Case Analysis Memorandum, Discovery and Preparation of the Motion for Attorney's Fees 26 The district court reduced Welch's requested hours by 5.75 hours for time spent in intra-office conferences, by 5 hours for preparation of a case analysis memorandum, by 4 hours for time spent conducting discovery-related activities, and by 9 hours for preparation of Welch's motion for attorney's fees. We affirm all of these reductions. 27 First, the court reasonably reduced the hours billed for intra-office conferences between Welch's primary counsel at Kantor & Kantor and her colleague. As Welch's primary counsel said in the fee request, she has assumed sole responsibility for several hundred ERISA matters. Given her substantial experience and Welch's failure to provide a persuasive justification for the intra-office meetings, the district court did not err in finding the intra-office conferences to be unnecessary and duplicative. See Hope, 785 F.2d at 831. 28 Second, the district court's finding that 5 hours spent on case analysis were unnecessary is precisely the kind of assessment that is entitled to considerable deference because of the district court's superior understanding of the litigation. Van Gerwen, 214 F.3d at 1047 (quoting Hensley, 461 U.S. at 437, 103 S.Ct. 1933). The district court, which oversaw preparation of the case for trial, was in the best position to determine whether case analysis by Welch's counsel was or was not necessary. Welch has offered no evidence that persuades us otherwise. 29 Similarly, because of the district court's superior understanding of the litigation, the court's conclusion that hours spent propounding discovery were excessive or otherwise unnecessary is entitled to considerable deference. See id. at 1047-48. Kantor & Kantor's billing time sheet included an 8.75-hour block billed entry for time spent reviewing insurance documents, preparing discovery and deposition notices, e-mailing opposing counsel and conducting an intra-office conference. The district court concluded that a 4-hour reduction was appropriate in light of its request to file the entire administrative record, because it [was] not at all clear . . . that any discovery was appropriate. Because an ERISA plaintiff may be permitted to supplement the administrative record with evidence of a conflict of interest on the part of the defendant, see Tremain v. Bell Industries, Inc., 196 F.3d 970, 976-77 (9th Cir.1999), we agree with Welch that some discovery aimed at demonstrating a conflict of interest may have been appropriate. But in order to grant Welch the relief she seeks, we would have to override the district court's conclusion that 4 of the 8.75 hours claimed were unnecessary. We decline Welch's invitation to nitpick in this manner because she has presented insufficient evidence to convince us that the district court's determination was a clear error of judgment. 30 Finally, the district court did not err in reducing the requested 13 hours for preparation of Welch's motion for attorney's fees by 9 hours because the motion's language was boilerplate. A reduction in hours is appropriate if the court reasonably concludes that preparation of a motion demanded little of counsel's time. Webb v. Sloan, 330 F.3d 1158, 1170 (9th Cir.2003). The district court found that much of the language in Welch's motion for fees was recycled from submissions to other courts. Welch has offered no evidence to undermine the court's reasonable conclusion that billing for a total of 13 hours was excessive. See Hyland v. Indicator Lites, Inc., 160 F.Supp.2d 981, 986 (N.D.Ill.2001) (holding that reduction in hours billed by prevailing party's attorney for drafting complaint was warranted where complaint contained standard formulations and was drafted using cutting and pasting).