Dillon B. v. Bisignano
- Laura Provinzino
- 0:25-cv-00374
- U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
- 5
In Dillon B. v. Bisignano, Judge Provinzino granted in part a fee motion, awarding counsel $5,554.88 and ordering a $4,702.28 net payment.
Dillon B. and his attorney: the court approved a $5,554.88 Section 406(b) fee, deducted the prior $852.60 EAJA award, and ordered a $4,702.28 net payment from Dillon B.’s past-due benefits.
What happened
In Dillon B. v. Bisignano, the court considered Dillon B.’s request for additional attorney’s fees after the Social Security Administration awarded benefits following a remand. The agency determined that Dillon B. was entitled to $44,439 in past-due benefits.
Dillon B. requested $11,109.75, which represented 25% of the past-due benefits and the maximum allowed under the fee statute. The court found that amount unreasonable because counsel spent less than four recorded hours on the case, producing an effective hourly rate of $3,174.
Judge Laura M. Provinzino granted the motion in part and reduced the fee award by half, to $5,554.88. After subtracting the previously awarded $852.60 in fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act, the court ordered a net payment of $4,702.28 from Dillon B.’s past-due benefits.
The detailed version
- Dillon B. v. Bisignano · No. 0:25-cv-00374
- Laura M. Provinzino
- May 12, 2026
Background
The court had previously approved the parties’ agreement to send Dillon B.’s disability-benefits application back to the Social Security Administration for reconsideration. The court later awarded Dillon B. $852.60 in attorney’s fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA).
On remand, an administrative law judge found that Dillon B. was entitled to benefits beginning in March 2022. The Social Security Administration calculated $44,439 in past-due benefits for April 2022 through March 2026. Dillon B. then moved for additional attorney’s fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b). The Social Security Administration did not respond to the motion.
Fee request
Section 406(b) permits a court to award a successful Social Security claimant’s lawyer a reasonable fee for work performed before the court, subject to a maximum of 25% of the claimant’s past-due benefits. The court must independently review whether the requested amount is reasonable. A contingency-fee agreement is an important starting point for that review.
Dillon B.’s agreement with counsel provided for a fee equal to 25% of any past-due benefits. Dillon B. requested $11,109.75, which was exactly 25% of the $44,439 in past-due benefits. The court found no indication that counsel delayed the case or provided poor representation.
Court’s ruling
The court nevertheless found that the requested fee would be an improper windfall. Counsel represented that the requested amount would produce an effective hourly rate of $3,174 because counsel had recorded fewer than four hours of work. The court noted that this rate was more than twice the high end of rates previously approved in the District of Minnesota and that counsel had earlier sought an EAJA fee based on an effective hourly rate of $243.60. The court also noted that the case was not substantively reviewed by a federal judge because the Commissioner did not oppose the remand.
Judge Laura M. Provinzino granted Dillon B.’s motion for attorney’s fees in part. The court reduced the Section 406(b) award from $11,109.75 to $5,554.88, resulting in an effective hourly rate of $1,587.11. Because Dillon B. had already received $852.60 under the EAJA, the court ordered that counsel receive a net payment of $4,702.28 from Dillon B.’s past-due benefits.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.