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D. Minn.Procedural orderFiled Nov. 15, 2024

Maryan S. v. O'Malley

Judge
Tony Leung
Docket
0:22-cv-00767
Court
U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
Pages
2
Fee PetitionSocial Security
In one sentence

In Maryan S. v. O’Malley, Magistrate Judge Leung granted the fee motion in part, denied it in part, and awarded Maryan S. $27,000.

Who this affects

Maryan S. receives the $27,000 EAJA award as the litigant. The order also affects her attorneys because the court directed that the award be paid to Maryan S., not directly to counsel.

What happened

Maryan S. v. O’Malley concerned Maryan S.’s request for attorney fees and costs under the Equal Access to Justice Act, a federal law allowing certain fee awards against the government. She requested $28,810.47.

The parties later filed a joint agreement asking the court to award $27,000 in fees and costs. The agreement did not state who should receive the money.

Judge Tony N. Leung adopted the agreement and granted the motion in part and denied it in part. The court awarded $27,000 and ordered that the money be paid to Maryan S., the person who brought the case, rather than directly to her attorneys.

The detailed version

For law students, journalists, and other readers who want the full reasoning

Case
Maryan S. v. O'Malley · No. 0:22-cv-00767
Judge
Tony Leung
Date
Nov. 15, 2024

Background

Maryan S. moved for attorney fees and costs under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). She requested $28,810.47. The court ordered Martin O’Malley to respond, and the parties filed a joint stipulation agreeing to an award of $27,000.

Court’s Analysis

The parties’ stipulation did not specify to whom the EAJA award should be paid. Relying on the Supreme Court’s decision in Astrue v. Ratliff, the court stated that an EAJA award belongs to the plaintiff as the litigant, not to the plaintiff’s counsel.

Ruling

The court adopted the parties’ stipulation. It granted in part and denied in part Maryan S.’s motion for an EAJA award. The court awarded Maryan S. $27,000 in fees and costs and ordered that any EAJA fees be paid to her as the litigant. The motion was otherwise denied.

The authoritative version

Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

Open opinion PDF →
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