District Court Adopts Grant Stiefel's Fee Report and Cuts Millions from Attorney Fee Award

The district court for the Central District of California adopted and approved Grant Stiefel's methodology for evaluating block-billed, vague and redacted billing entries and slashed a prevailing First Amendment plaintiff’s $4.8 million fee award by more than sixty percent. Mr. Stiefel's detailed reporting and expert analysis allowed the judge to identify vague, redacted and block-billed time entries, and the court applied Mr. Stiefel's recommended discounts of more than $1 million. The court also eliminated more than 1,300 hours that Mr. Stiefel identified as duplicative and non-compensable, reflecting an additional $1 million in reduced fees