Mickinzie T. v. Saul

Background

Mickinzie T. applied for Disabled Adult Child and Supplemental Security Income benefits in January 2017. The Social Security Administration denied the application and again denied it on reconsideration. An Administrative Law Judge later found that she was not disabled. After the agency’s Appeals Council denied review, Mickinzie T. sought judicial review.

In the earlier round of this case, the court granted Mickinzie T.’s motion for summary judgment, denied the Commissioner’s motion for summary judgment, and sent the case back to the Social Security Administration for an immediate award of benefits. Mickinzie T. then moved for attorneys’ fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act, a federal law that can require the government to pay reasonable fees to a prevailing party in litigation against the United States.

Fee request and objections

Mickinzie T. submitted billing records from attorneys Ralph Wilborn and David J. Linden. Wilborn billed 67.75 hours for the case and an additional nine hours for preparing the reply brief on the fee motion. Linden billed 4.3 hours. Mickinzie T. sought the statutory hourly rates and an additional $1,957.86 for work on the reply brief.

The Commissioner did not challenge the hourly rates or the reasonableness of Linden’s hours. The Commissioner argued that Wilborn’s hours were excessive for what she characterized as a routine case and asked the court to award no more than $7,815.90. The Commissioner particularly objected to the 47.75 hours spent on the opening brief and the 15 hours attributed to reply-brief work.

Court’s analysis

The court held that Mickinzie T. qualified as a prevailing party because her lawsuit secured a remand of the agency’s final decision. The Commissioner did not contend that the government’s position was substantially justified, and did not argue that special circumstances made a fee award unjust. The court therefore concluded that Mickinzie T. was entitled to an award under the Equal Access to Justice Act.

The court also determined that the requested hours were reasonable. It noted that the administrative record exceeded 2,800 pages and that Mickinzie T. had challenged the Administrative Law Judge’s decision on numerous grounds. After reviewing the time entries, the court found that the claimed hours were not excessive and awarded $15,631.79 for Wilborn’s and Linden’s work on the underlying case. The court also found that Mickinzie T. was entitled to fees for preparing the reply brief on the fee motion.

Disposition

Judge Donna Ryu granted Mickinzie T.’s motion for attorneys’ fees in the amount of $17,589.65. The award is to be paid directly to counsel because Mickinzie T. assigned the Equal Access to Justice Act fees to her attorneys, subject to any debt offset.