J.Z. v. Kijakazi
- Laurel Beeler
- 3:23-cv-03990
- 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.’s counsel received a $65,181 attorney-fee award, reduced from $74,500 to account for $9,319 in earlier Equal Access to Justice Act fees; J.Z. was to receive the benefit of the refund of those earlier fees.
What happened
In J.Z. v. Kijakazi, the court had already ruled for J.Z. and sent the case back to the Social Security Administration for further proceedings. J.Z. then received $298,188.92 in past-due benefits.
J.Z.’s counsel requested $74,500, which was 25% of those benefits under the representation agreement. The Commissioner asked the court to review whether that amount was reasonable and to account for earlier attorney-fee awards under the Equal Access to Justice Act. Counsel agreed to refund those earlier fees.
Judge Beeler found the requested fee reasonable but offset it by $9,319 in earlier fees, and granted counsel’s motion for $65,181 under the Social Security fee statute.
The detailed version
- J.Z. v. Kijakazi · No. 3:23-cv-03990
- Laurel Beeler
- Aug. 20, 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 then moved for attorney’s fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), relying on a representation agreement providing for a 25% contingency fee.
Counsel requested $74,500, which is within 25% of the past-due benefits. The court had previously awarded $4,520 in fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act in this case and $4,799 in an earlier related proceeding. The Commissioner asked the court to evaluate the reasonableness of the requested fee and to require the earlier Equal Access to Justice Act fees to be refunded to J.Z. Counsel agreed to refund those fees.
Legal Standard
Under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), a court may approve a reasonable fee for a claimant’s lawyer after a favorable judgment in a Social Security case, up to 25% of the past-due benefits. The court must independently review a contingency-fee request for reasonableness. Relevant considerations include the quality of the representation, the results achieved, attorney-caused delay, whether the fee is disproportionate to the time spent, and the risk undertaken by counsel. Any fee awarded under § 406(b) must be offset by fees previously awarded under the Equal Access to Justice Act.
Analysis
The court found that the 25% contingency-fee agreement was within the statutory limit and that the requested amount was reasonable. The court concluded that counsel’s work was not substandard, noting that counsel obtained remands in both cases. The court also found no attorney-caused delay and determined that the time spent—44 attorney-hours and 6.3 paralegal-hours on the two cases—was not disproportionate to the requested fee.
Because J.Z.’s counsel had previously received $9,319 in Equal Access to Justice Act fees, the court offset the $74,500 request by that amount. The resulting award was $65,181.
Disposition
The court granted J.Z.’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.