J.Z. v. Kijakazi
- Donna Ryu
- 3:20-cv-00154
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 4
In J.Z. v. Kijakazi, Judge Beeler granted counsel’s fee motion and awarded $65,181 under the Social Security fee statute.
J.Z. and J.Z.’s counsel were affected: the court awarded counsel $65,181 in fees after offsetting $9,319 in previously awarded Equal Access to Justice Act fees.
What happened
In J.Z. v. Kijakazi, the court had previously granted J.Z.’s request for summary judgment and sent the case back to the Social Security Administration for further proceedings. J.Z. later received $298,188.92 in past-due benefits.
J.Z.’s counsel asked for $74,500, equal to 25% of the past-due benefits under the representation agreement. The Commissioner asked the court to review whether that amount was reasonable and require counsel to return $9,319 in previously awarded Equal Access to Justice Act fees. Counsel agreed to return those fees.
Judge Laurel Beeler granted the motion, finding the requested fee reasonable, but offset it by the $9,319 in Equal Access to Justice Act fees. The court awarded counsel $65,181 under the Social Security fee statute.
The detailed version
- J.Z. v. Kijakazi · No. 3:20-cv-00154
- Donna Ryu
- Aug. 16, 2024
Background
The court previously granted J.Z.’s motion for summary judgment and remanded the case to the Social Security Administration for further proceedings. After the remand, the Commissioner awarded J.Z. $298,188.92 in past-due benefits.
J.Z.’s counsel sought $74,500 in attorney’s fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b). The representation agreement provided for a contingency fee of 25% of the past-due benefits, and $74,500 was within that statutory limit. The Commissioner asked the court to review the reasonableness of the requested fee and require counsel to refund fees previously awarded under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA). Counsel agreed to refund the $9,319 in EAJA fees previously awarded in this case and an earlier related proceeding.
Legal standard
Under § 406(b), a court may award a claimant’s attorney a reasonable fee from past-due Social Security benefits, up to 25% of those benefits. The court must independently review a contingency-fee request to determine whether it produces a reasonable result. Relevant considerations include the quality of the representation, the results achieved, attorney-caused delay, the time spent compared with the fee, and the risk counsel assumed.
An award under § 406(b) must be reduced by any EAJA fee award that has already been paid to the claimant’s counsel.
Ruling
Judge Laurel Beeler found that the 25% contingency-fee agreement was within the statutory limit and that the requested $74,500 fee was reasonable. The court found that counsel’s work was not substandard, that counsel had not caused delay, and that the 44 attorney-hours and 6.3 paralegal-hours spent on the two related cases were not out of proportion to the fee.
Because $9,319 in EAJA fees had previously been paid to counsel, the court offset that amount from the requested fee. The court granted the plaintiff’s counsel’s motion and awarded $65,181 in attorney’s fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b).
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.