Zenobia W. v. Kijakazi

Background

Zenobia W. petitioned for attorney’s fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), a federal law that can require the United States to pay a prevailing party’s reasonable fees in certain civil cases. She requested $11,223.30 for 53.7 hours of attorney work at an hourly rate of $209.00. The government did not object to the hourly rate but argued that the hours were unreasonable and asked the court to reduce them to 35 hours.

The court explained that Zenobia W. was a prevailing party because the court had previously remanded her Social Security case under sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). The court had reviewed the administrative record and the parties’ summary-judgment filings in the earlier proceedings. The record was 1,342 pages, and Zenobia W.’s attorney filed a 34-page memorandum addressing the Administrative Law Judge’s evaluation of evidence from at least four medical sources. The opinion states that Zenobia W. had applied for Supplemental Security Income based largely on asserted mental-health issues and that she was represented by counsel in seeking judicial review.

Reasonableness of the Hours

The court found that 53.7 hours was a reasonable amount of time. Attorney Karl E. Osterhout recorded 23.3 hours reviewing the administrative record, along with additional time reviewing the Appeals Council decision, reviewing the file, conferring with Zenobia W., and reviewing the government’s answer and the record. The court found this work reasonable, noting that Osterhout had not represented Zenobia W. during the administrative proceedings and therefore was not already familiar with the record.

The government also objected to entries that combined multiple tasks. The court acknowledged that the entries made it difficult to determine how much time was spent on each task, but concluded that it could evaluate the work based on its experience with Social Security disability cases. The court found that either 23.3 hours or 26.3 hours for the file review and related tasks was reasonable.

The court rejected the government’s characterization of the combined entries as possible “overbilling.” It described the dispute as one about the reasonable amount of time needed for the work, not a dispute about professional misconduct.

The court also found reasonable the 20.3 hours spent drafting Zenobia W.’s summary-judgment memorandum and the 4.2 hours spent by local counsel Edward Olson. Although the memorandum was longer than most and addressed several medical providers, the court found that the legal and factual analysis was relatively straightforward and that the time spent was not unreasonable.

Hourly Rate and Disposition

The EAJA generally limits attorney fees to $125 per hour but permits a higher rate when, among other things, an increase in the cost of living justifies it. Although the government did not contest the requested rate, the court found that the increase in the cost of living justified the $209.00 hourly rate.

The court ordered that Zenobia W.’s fee petition be GRANTED. It awarded her $11,223.30 in attorney’s fees under the EAJA, less any offset. The opinion does not state the amount or details of any offset.