Dianna L. B. v. Saul
- Tony Leung
- 0:19-cv-02561
- U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
- 5
In Dianna L. B. v. Saul, Judge Leung granted the fee petition and awarded $8,672.60 under the Equal Access to Justice Act.
Dianna L. B. and her counsel receive the ordered attorney-fee award; the Commissioner of Social Security is responsible for the award, subject to any offset for Dianna L. B.’s preexisting debt to the United States.
What happened
In Dianna L. B. v. Saul, the court had previously sent Dianna L. B.’s Social Security case back to the agency for further proceedings after granting her request for judgment.
Dianna L. B.’s lawyer asked for payment for 42.1 hours of work at $206 per hour. The Commissioner argued that only 35 hours were reasonable, because the case involved common issues and some arguments resembled arguments used in earlier briefs.
Judge Leung ruled that the requested time was reasonable because the lawyer had to review an administrative record exceeding 950 pages and had not represented Dianna L. B. in the earlier agency proceedings. The court granted the fee petition and awarded $8,672.60, subject to an offset for any existing debt Dianna L. B. owes the United States.
The detailed version
- Dianna L. B. v. Saul · No. 0:19-cv-02561
- Tony Leung
- Feb. 25, 2021
Background
The court had previously granted Dianna L. B.’s motion for summary judgment, denied the Commissioner’s motion for summary judgment, and remanded the matter to the Social Security Administration for further proceedings. In this order, the court considered Dianna L. B.’s petition for attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act, a federal law that generally allows a prevailing party in a case against the United States to recover reasonable fees unless the government’s position was substantially justified or special circumstances would make an award unjust.
The Commissioner did not argue that either exception applied. Instead, the Commissioner challenged the amount of time claimed by Dianna L. B.’s counsel.
Fee Request and Objection
Dianna L. B.’s counsel requested compensation for 42.1 hours at $206.00 per hour, totaling $8,672.60. The Commissioner argued that 35 hours was reasonable and that the appropriate award was $7,210.00. The Commissioner characterized the issues as routine Social Security disability issues involving opinion evidence and the claimant’s credibility, and argued that counsel had used recycled arguments and fit the case’s facts into them.
The court noted that the parties agreed experienced Social Security lawyers are commonly compensated for about 20 to 40 hours, although awards slightly above that range also occur.
Court’s Analysis
The court found that the requested time was reasonable. Counsel had not represented Dianna L. B. during the administrative proceedings and therefore had to become familiar with an administrative record exceeding 950 pages. The court also declined to reduce the award merely because opinion-evidence and credibility issues are frequently litigated or because parts of the brief resembled counsel’s earlier briefs.
The court concluded that 42.1 hours at $206.00 per hour was reasonable and consistent with other Equal Access to Justice Act awards in Social Security cases in the District of Minnesota.
Disposition
The court granted Dianna L. B.’s counsel’s petition for attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act. It awarded Dianna L. B. $8,672.60 in reasonable attorney fees, subject to offset by any preexisting debt she owes to the United States.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.