Are there any cases where a judge was wrong to award fees for hours spent on research?

Appellees reliance on Northcross v. Board of Ed. of Memphis City Schools, 611 F.2d 624 (6th Cir. 1979) is misplaced. There it was held that the trial judge erred in cutting the award of fees because the plaintiffs had not prevailed on some issues or parts of issues in the case. Northcross was a single case and the appellate court correctly held it to be improper to cull out and refuse fee award for parts of the total issues raised, which were not persuasive in the reaching of the final decision. "So long as the party has prevailed on the case as a whole, the district courts are to allow compensation for hours expended on unsuccessful research or litigation, unless the positions asserted are frivolous or in bad faith" (P. 636).