Christina Saccomano v. Andrew Saul

Background

Christina Saccomano sought Social Security disability benefits from Andrew Saul, the Commissioner of Social Security. The court had previously granted Saccomano’s motion for summary judgment and remanded the case for further administrative proceedings. The Commissioner then found Saccomano disabled and awarded $125,893 in past-due benefits and continuing future benefits.

The parties stipulated to an award of $4,139.02 in fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), which allows certain successful parties suing the federal government to recover reasonable attorney fees from the government. Harvey Sackett, Saccomano’s attorney, separately moved for $21,473.25 in fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b). That statute permits a court to award a reasonable fee, paid from the claimant’s past-due benefits, up to 25 percent of those benefits.

Fee Agreement and Court’s Review

Saccomano’s fee agreement stated that she would pay Sackett “a fee no greater than 25%” of her past-due benefits if she obtained a favorable decision. The court found that the agreement did not specify how to determine the fee within that limit. Because the agreement provided no contrary guidance, the court treated itself as responsible for determining a reasonable fee, subject to the 25-percent statutory limit.

The court rejected Sackett’s argument that the requested fee should be evaluated after subtracting the earlier EAJA award. It explained that an EAJA award offsets a § 406(b) award, and that the attorney must refund the smaller fee to the claimant. The court therefore evaluated the full $21,473.25 request and did not decide whether any fee Sackett might later seek under § 406(a) at the administrative level would be reasonable.

Reasonableness Analysis

The court considered the quality of Sackett’s representation, the favorable result, possible attorney-caused delay, the amount of benefits compared with the time spent, and the fee agreement. The requested amount was about 17 percent of Saccomano’s past-due benefits, below the 25-percent fee commonly used in Social Security disability cases. The court found no significant unwarranted delay or substandard performance.

Sackett spent 20.45 hours litigating the case in federal court. The requested amount would produce an effective hourly rate of about $1,050. The court acknowledged that this was high but found it reasonable given the contingent nature of the representation and the risk that Sackett would recover nothing if the case failed. The court also stated that it was not conducting a traditional “lodestar” calculation, which generally multiplies reasonable hours by a reasonable hourly rate, because that method was not appropriate for evaluating a fee paid by the attorney’s client from recovered benefits in this setting.

Disposition

The court GRANTED the motion for attorney fees. Sackett shall recover $21,473.25 from Saccomano’s past-due benefits under § 406(b). After receiving those funds, Sackett is ORDERED to refund Saccomano the prior $4,139.02 EAJA award. The Commissioner is ORDERED to distribute Saccomano’s past-due benefits consistently with the order.