Regalado v. Kijakazi
- Richard Seeborg
- 3:23-cv-00759
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 4
In Regalado v. Kijakazi, Judge Seeborg granted counsel $1,900 in Social Security attorney fees under section 406(b).
Andrew Fidel Regalado and his attorney, Francesco Benavides. The order authorizes Benavides to collect $1,900 from Regalado’s past-due Social Security benefits.
What happened
In Regalado v. Kijakazi, Andrew Fidel Regalado challenged the denial of Social Security disability benefits. After the case was sent back for further proceedings, the agency awarded him $47,601.59 in past-due benefits.
Regalado’s attorney, Francesco Benavides, requested $1,900 for work performed in the federal case under a law allowing courts to award attorneys a portion of past-due Social Security benefits. The government did not oppose the request, and Regalado did not object.
Judge Richard Seeborg found the requested fee reasonable and granted the motion. The court authorized Benavides to collect $1,900, which was about 3.9% of Regalado’s past-due benefits.
The detailed version
- Regalado v. Kijakazi · No. 3:23-cv-00759
- Richard Seeborg
- Nov. 18, 2024
Background
Andrew Fidel Regalado applied for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits and was denied in May 2022. After pursuing administrative appeals, he sought judicial review in February 2023. The parties stipulated to judgment reversing the Commissioner’s decision and sending the matter back to the Social Security Administration for further proceedings.
On remand, the agency determined that Regalado was owed $47,601.59 in past-due benefits. The government had also been ordered to pay $8,300 in attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The opinion states that those funds were not received because the Treasury Department used them to offset Regalado’s child-support debt.
Attorney-fee request
Francesco Benavides moved for an award under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b). That provision allows a court to approve a reasonable fee for an attorney who represented a claimant in federal court, up to 25% of the claimant’s past-due benefits. The requested fee was $1,900.
The court reviewed the attorney-client fee agreement and assessed whether the requested amount was reasonable. It found no evidence that Benavides’s representation was substandard or that he caused undue delay. Benavides documented 37.4 hours of work, making the requested fee equivalent to an hourly rate of $50.80. The court stated that this rate was within the range approved in other Social Security cases.
The court also held that Benavides did not have to refund the previously awarded Equal Access to Justice Act fees because he had never received them.
Ruling
Judge Richard Seeborg granted the motion for attorney fees. The order authorized Benavides to collect $1,900 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.