Mishelle G. v. Kijakazi

Background

Plaintiff’s counsel, Katherine Siegfried, moved for attorney’s fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b) for representing Mishelle G. in the appeal of the Social Security Administration’s denial of disability benefits. The appeal concerned a combination of mental and physical impairments, including obesity, lumbar-spine stenosis, prior back-fusion surgery followed by hardware removal, and lumbar degenerative disc disease.

On November 21, 2021, the court granted the parties’ joint stipulation to remand the case to the Social Security Administration for further proceedings under sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). On December 30, 2021, the court granted a stipulation awarding counsel $9,800 under the Equal Access to Justice Act, or EAJA, which provides for certain attorney-fee awards against the government.

After the remand, Mishelle G. was notified that she had been awarded disability benefits as of September 2018 and would receive $77,523.67 in past-due benefits. The Social Security Administration withheld $25,841.23, representing 25 percent of those past-due benefits, for attorney’s fees. Under the contingency-fee agreement, counsel could seek up to 25 percent of the past-due benefits and requested $20,000 for work performed in the district court. Counsel served Mishelle G. with the motion, and the Commissioner took no position.

Legal standard

Section 406(b) permits a court to approve a reasonable fee for an attorney who represented a Social Security claimant before the court, subject to a limit of 25 percent of the claimant’s past-due benefits. The court must independently review a contingency-fee agreement to ensure that it produces a reasonable result. Relevant considerations include the quality of the representation, the results achieved, whether counsel delayed the case to increase the fee, and whether the requested amount is excessive in relation to the services provided.

Any Section 406(b) fee award must be offset by an EAJA fee award. The court therefore required the previously awarded $9,800 in EAJA fees to be refunded to Mishelle G.

Court’s reasoning

The court found the $20,000 request reasonable. The contingency-fee agreement was within the statutory 25-percent limit. The court found no indication of substandard representation or delay intended to increase the fee. Instead, counsel performed substantial work and achieved a favorable result after the Commissioner agreed to voluntary remand following counsel’s summary-judgment motion.

The court also found that $20,000 was not excessive because it was less than the 25 percent withheld from the past-due benefits. Finally, the court found that counsel had assumed a substantial risk of not being paid because the Social Security Administration had initially denied all requested benefits and counsel could not know that the Commissioner would agree to a remand.

Disposition

The court GRANTS plaintiff’s counsel’s motion for fees. It directed the Commissioner to certify $20,000 in fees under Section 406(b), payable to the Law Offices of Katherine Siegfried. It also ordered plaintiff’s counsel to refund the previously awarded $9,800 in EAJA fees to Mishelle G.