Timothy G. v. Commissioner of Social Security

Background

The Social Security Administration initially denied Timothy G.’s application for disability benefits. After multiple administrative hearings and denials, the agency issued another unfavorable decision in August 2018. Timothy G. retained Howard D. Olinsky of Olinsky Law Group to represent him in federal court, and he filed this action in October 2018.

In September 2019, on the parties’ agreement, the court sent the case back to the Social Security Administration for further proceedings. The court later approved $6,736 in fees and expenses for Timothy G. under the Equal Access to Justice Act, a federal law allowing certain fee awards against the government. After further agency proceedings, the Social Security Administration found Timothy G. disabled and issued a February 2024 notice stating that he was owed $370,574 in past-due benefits. The agency withheld $92,643.50, equal to 25 percent of those benefits, in case representative fees were approved.

Fee Request and Timeliness

Under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), a court may approve a reasonable fee for a lawyer who represented a successful disability claimant in federal court, up to 25 percent of the claimant’s past-due benefits. Timothy G.’s counsel requested $59,330 for 29.3 hours of attorney work and 7.3 hours of paralegal work.

The request was filed nearly eight months after the Social Security Administration issued the notice of award, rather than within the usual 14-day period. Judge Moses concluded that counsel’s explanation was minimal but accepted it in Timothy G.’s favor, excusing the delay. The court warned that future late requests would require a stronger factual explanation showing that counsel was not responsible for the delay.

Reasonableness of the Fee

The requested fee was within the 25-percent statutory limit. The court found no evidence that the fee agreement resulted from fraud or improper pressure. It also found that counsel had performed valuable work, including reviewing a 933-page administrative record and preparing a 29-page legal memorandum that preceded the agreed remand.

The court nevertheless found that the requested fee would produce an unusually high effective hourly rate: $1,621 when all timekeepers were included, or $2,000 for attorney time after valuing paralegal work at $100 per hour. In deciding whether this would be an improper windfall, the court considered the lawyers’ experience, their relationship with the claimant, the claimant’s satisfaction, and the uncertainty of the case’s outcome.

The court found that the lawyers’ experience, the quality of their work, Timothy G.’s presumed satisfaction, and the uncertainty created by his earlier agency denials supported a substantial fee. But the court gave particular weight to the fact that Olinsky Law Group represented Timothy G. only in federal court, while other lawyers represented him at the agency level. The court also noted that the large past-due-benefits amount resulted substantially from the passage of time: the disability finding concerned a period beginning in 2011, while Olinsky Law Group began its representation in 2018 and the benefits were not paid until 2024.

Disposition

Judge Moses granted the motion in part. The Social Security Administration was directed to approve a payment of $44,680 to Timothy G.’s counsel from Timothy G.’s past-due benefits. The amount consisted of $43,950 for 29.3 attorney hours at $1,500 per hour and $730 for 7.3 paralegal hours at $100 per hour. Upon receiving the § 406(b) payment, counsel was directed to refund $6,319.74 to Timothy G., representing the earlier Equal Access to Justice Act fee award.