Haynes Boone Gets $1.2 Million in Fees for Texas Book-Rating Win

Haynes Boone is entitled to $1.2 million in fees and costs to be paid by Texas after defeating a state law requiring booksellers to assign sex-content ratings to books sold to public schools, a judge ordered Tuesday.

The amount is reasonable given that the firm charged a blended rate of $520 an hour, below the standard rate of the lawyers who worked on the case, Judge Alan Albright of the US District Court for the Western District of Texas wrote in the order.

“Practicing First Amendment law as necessary for this litigation required an extremely high degree of skill and thoroughness,” Albright said. “Additionally, the attorneys for plaintiffs provided zealous advocacy in their arguments to the court.

The award is consistent with the amount Haynes Boone requested last month for the 2,317 hours it has billed through two years of litigation.

The firm represented book stores and publishers in challenging the 2023 rating system. In October, Albright said the system unconstitutionally compels speech and is void for vagueness, granting a final injunction.

The state disputed the amount Haynes Boone sought, citing 2019 data that the median hourly rate for attorneys in Austin is about $379 adjusted for inflation.

But reliance on that data “appears too speculative to have much bearing today,” Albright wrote in the order.

Albright for now denied Haynes Boone’s request for conditional appellate fees, which would’ve taken the entire award to $1.94 million.

Texas is appealing Albright’s injunction order, extending the litigation. Albright said he’ll revisit the appellate fees question following the resolution of the appeal.

“It is difficult or nearly impossible to accurately estimate the amount of attorneys’ fees that will be incurred through various stages of appeal,” Albright wrote.

The case is Book People Inc. v. Wong, W.D. Tex., No. 1:23-cv-858, 12/23/25.