§ 1.6.4 THE EXERCISE OF "BILLING JUDGMENT" AND REASONABLE HOURS

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

The party seeking an award of attorneys' fees has the burden of establishing not only the time and effort incurred, but also that the time expended was reasonable and necessary. Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424 (1983); Metro Data Sys., Inc., 597 F. Supp. 244; see In re Indenture of Trust Dated January 13, 1964, 235 Ariz. 40, 52, ¶ 47, 326 P.3d 307, 319 (App. 2014) (party seeking fee award has burden of presenting affidavit showing details of work performed); Geller v. Lesk, 230 Ariz. 624, 629, ¶ 14, 285 P.3d 972, 977 (App. 2012) (party requesting fees under contract provision authorizing an award of reasonable fees bears the burden of proving reasonableness); Woerth v. City of Flagstaff, 167 Ariz. 412, 419, 808 P.2d 297, 305 (App. 1990) (party requesting fees under A.R.S. § 12-341.01(A) has burden of proving entitlement to award); Schweiger, 138 Ariz. at 188, 673 P.2d at 932. The fee application should, therefore, demonstrate a thoughtful and deliberate review of client billings to expunge excessive or duplicative time and to eliminate work related to issues or claims on which the fee claimant did not prevail. Fee applications should not simply consist of a rehash of client billings or a summary of all expended time; rather, they should request compensation for time properly and reasonably expended in pursuit of the litigation. See generally Hensley, 461 U.S. at 434; Copeland...