Nickolas B. v. Bisignano
- John Tunheim
- 0:25-cv-03499
- U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
- 2
In Nickolas B. v. Bisignano, Judge Tunheim granted the plaintiff's unopposed motion for $4,771.74 in attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act.
Social Security claimants who prevail against the Commissioner and seek reimbursement of attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The ruling is routine and fact-specific to this case, but confirms the standard practice of awarding EAJA fees when the government does not oppose the request.
What happened
In Nickolas B. v. Bisignano (Civil No. 25-3499), a Social Security case in the District of Minnesota, the plaintiff sought attorney fees after prevailing against the Commissioner of Social Security. The plaintiff filed a motion for attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), a federal law that allows prevailing parties to recover attorney fees from the government in certain cases. The Commissioner did not oppose the motion.
The court's analysis was straightforward: because the Commissioner did not contest the request, there was no dispute for the court to resolve on the merits of the fee amount or entitlement.
Judge John R. Tunheim granted the motion and awarded the plaintiff $4,771.74 in attorney fees. The order notes, consistent with a U.S. Supreme Court decision called Astrue v. Ratliff, that the fee award is made payable to the plaintiff as the prevailing party and may be offset to satisfy any preexisting debts the plaintiff owes to the United States government.
The detailed version
- Nickolas B. v. Bisignano · No. 0:25-cv-03499
- John Tunheim
- June 25, 2026
Background
This is a Social Security appeal in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. The plaintiff, identified only as Nickolas B., sued Frank Bisignano in his capacity as Commissioner of Social Security. The underlying dispute is not described in this order, which concerns only the fee petition filed after the plaintiff prevailed.
The Motion
The plaintiff moved for attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412. The EAJA allows a prevailing party in litigation against the federal government to recover attorney fees and costs, unless the court finds that the government's position was substantially justified or special circumstances make an award unjust. The plaintiff requested $4,771.74 in fees. The Commissioner of Social Security filed no opposition to the motion.
The Court's Ruling
Because the motion was unopposed, Judge Tunheim granted it without extended analysis. The court awarded the plaintiff attorney fees in the amount of $4,771.74, stating that this award "shall fully and completely satisfy any and all claims for fees, costs, and/or expenses" payable under the EAJA in this matter.
Offset Notice
The court noted, citing Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586 (2010), and related federal statutes (31 U.S.C. §§ 3701(b), 3711, 3716), that any EAJA fee award must be made payable to the plaintiff as the prevailing party — not directly to counsel — and that the award may be offset to satisfy preexisting debts the plaintiff owes to the United States government.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.