Kaycie J. v. Colvin
- Dulce Foster
- 0:24-cv-03750
- U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
- 2
In Kaycie J. v. Dudek, Judge Foster granted in part a joint request and awarded Kaycie J. $4,400 in attorney fees.
Kaycie J., her counsel, and the federal government are affected by the attorney-fee award and any required debt offset.
What happened
In Kaycie J. v. Leland Dudek, the parties jointly asked the court to award attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The opinion does not explain the underlying Social Security dispute or the basis for the agreed fee amount.
The court granted the fee request in part and ordered the government to pay Kaycie J. $4,400 in attorney fees. The fees may be reduced to pay any qualifying debt Kaycie J. owes the United States.
Judge Dulce J. Foster also explained how payment should be made: if there is no qualifying debt and the government waives certain assignment requirements, payment may go to Kaycie J.’s lawyer; otherwise, any remaining amount will be paid by check to Kaycie J. Checks must be delivered to the lawyer’s law firm.
The detailed version
- Kaycie J. v. Colvin · No. 0:24-cv-03750
- Dulce J. Foster
- Apr. 22, 2025
Background
The court considered the parties’ Joint Motion for an Award of Attorney Fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act, a federal law that can allow a qualifying party to recover attorney fees from the government. The opinion concerns the fee request, not the underlying Social Security claim.
The caption identifies Leland Dudek as the Acting Commissioner of Social Security. The court substituted Dudek for Martin J. O’Malley as the defendant under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 25(d) and the Social Security Act.
Ruling
Based on the parties’ agreement, the court granted the Fee Motion in part and ordered the government to pay Kaycie J. $4,400 in attorney fees. The opinion does not specify which portion of the request was not granted.
The fees may be offset to satisfy a qualifying preexisting debt Kaycie J. may owe the United States. If the Commissioner determines that no such debt exists and agrees to waive the Anti-Assignment Act’s requirements, the fees will be payable to Kaycie J.’s counsel, Clifford Michael Farrell. If a qualifying debt exists or the Commissioner cannot waive those requirements, any remaining fees after the offset will be paid by check made out to Kaycie J. Any payment check must be delivered to counsel’s law firm, Manring and Farrell.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.