Barbara M. v. Saul

Background

The court had previously granted in part and denied in part both Barbara M.’s motion for summary judgment and Andrew Saul’s motion for summary judgment. It remanded the Social Security matter to the Social Security Administration for further proceedings. Barbara M. then filed a petition for attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412.

Barbara M. requested compensation for 55.71 hours of legal work. The Commissioner challenged the amount of time claimed, arguing that 36.92 hours was appropriate and that additional time was not reasonably spent. The Commissioner did not argue that the government’s position was substantially justified or that special circumstances made a fee award unfair.

Court’s analysis

The court explained that EAJA fees may be awarded to a party who prevailed against the United States unless the government’s position was substantially justified or special circumstances make an award unjust. The court considered the particular facts, complexity of the case, and work performed rather than applying a fixed average or maximum number of hours.

For preparation and initiation of the action, the court found 3.5 of the 4.7 hours spent reviewing the file to be reasonable, reducing that request by 1.2 hours. Although counsel had represented Barbara M. before the agency, the administrative record exceeded 2,000 pages and nearly two years had passed between the administrative hearing and the federal case. The court also reduced the 2.7 hours requested for preparing the summons and complaint by 1.2 hours, awarding 1.5 hours because the four-page complaint was not particularly complex.

For briefing Barbara M.’s summary-judgment motion, the court found 32.0 of the requested 33.9 hours reasonable and reduced the request by 1.9 hours. The court stated that preparing the federal memorandum required a thorough record review, legal research, and analysis beyond the issue-identification letter submitted to the Appeals Council.

For the fee petition and reply, the court found 4.0 hours reasonable for preparing the petition and supporting memorandum and 3.0 hours reasonable for preparing the reply. It therefore reduced the collective 8.0-hour request by 1.0 hour.

Disposition

The court found that 50.4 hours were reasonable and awarded $10,179.19 in attorney fees. The award consisted of 43.4 hours at the 2018 rate of $201.60 per hour and 7.0 hours at the 2019 rate of $204.25 per hour. Judge Tony N. Leung ordered that Barbara M.’s fee petition was GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. The award was subject to offset by any preexisting debt Barbara M. owed to the United States.