Jean P. R. E. v. Berryhill

Background

In an earlier round of this case, the court granted Jean P. R. E.’s motion for summary judgment, denied Nancy A. Berryhill’s motion for summary judgment, and remanded the matter to the Social Security Administration for further proceedings. Jean P. R. E.’s attorneys then filed a petition for attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act, a federal statute that can authorize fees for a party who prevails in a civil action against the United States.

Jean P. R. E. requested compensation for 45.9 hours at $196.50 per hour, totaling $9,019.35. The Commissioner did not argue that the government’s position was substantially justified or that special circumstances made an award unjust. Instead, the Commissioner challenged the number of hours and argued that 35 hours, totaling $6,877.50, was reasonable.

Court’s Analysis

The court rejected the Commissioner’s challenge to two hours of work performed before the complaint was filed. The court found that this work was not administrative work performed during the underlying Social Security proceedings. Instead, the attorneys reviewed the prior proceedings and consulted with Jean P. R. E. about bringing the federal case. Because that work prepared the attorneys to file the action, the court found it reasonable and compensable under the Equal Access to Justice Act.

The court also found reasonable the 39.6 hours spent preparing the opening brief, including 19.5 hours reviewing the administrative record, identifying issues, and conducting legal research, and 20.1 hours drafting and editing. The court declined to reduce those hours based on the length of the record, the age of the cited cases, the frequency of the legal issues, or the Commissioner’s assertion that the brief contained boilerplate and excessive quotations.

The court likewise found that the 3.6 hours spent preparing the reply brief were not excessive or unreasonable. The court said the reply focused on Jean P. R. E.’s cane usage, which was ultimately decisive in the case.

The court did, however, deduct 0.4 hours for clerical filing work. It identified three entries involving filing-related tasks by attorneys Ed Olson and Karl Osterhout. The court rejected the argument that Olson’s work as local counsel was unnecessarily duplicative, explaining that the local rules required a nonresident attorney to associate with an active member of the court’s bar who participated in preparing and presenting the case.

Disposition

The court held that 45.5 hours at $196.50 per hour, for a total of $8,940.75, was reasonable. It therefore ordered that Jean P. R. E.’s counsel’s fee petition be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. Jean P. R. E. was awarded $8,940.75 in attorney fees, subject to an offset for any preexisting debt owed to the United States.