Theodoros K. v. Kijakazi
- Katherine Menendez
- 0:20-cv-02228
- U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
- 2
In Theodoros K. v. Kijakazi, Judge Menendez granted the fee motion, awarding $9,700 in attorney’s fees and $400 in costs.
Theodoros K., the attorney assigned the fees and costs, and the defendant responsible for sending the payment; the award may also be offset for qualifying debts owed to the United States.
What happened
In Theodoros K. v. Kijakazi, the court considered a magistrate judge’s recommendation about Theodoros K.’s request for attorney’s fees and costs under the Equal Access to Justice Act.
No one objected to the recommendation. The court reviewed it for clear error and found no error in the recommendation to award $9,700 in reasonable attorney’s fees and $400 in costs.
The court accepted the recommendation and, as Judge Katherine Menendez ordered, granted the fee motion. The award is payable to Theodoros K. and may be reduced to pay qualifying debts owed to the United States; after any reduction, payment must be sent to the attorney in Theodoros K.’s name.
The detailed version
- Theodoros K. v. Kijakazi · No. 0:20-cv-02228
- Katherine Menendez
- Oct. 19, 2022
Background
The order concerns Theodoros K.’s motion for attorney’s fees and costs under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA). The matter came before the district court on the Report and Recommendation of United States Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Cowan Wright, dated September 27, 2022.
Recommendation and Review
The Report and Recommendation advised awarding Theodoros K. $9,700 in reasonable attorney’s fees and $400 in costs. No objections were filed. Because there were no objections, the court reviewed the recommendation for clear error rather than conducting a fresh review of disputed issues. The court found no error in the magistrate judge’s decision.
Ruling
The court accepted the Report and Recommendation and granted Theodoros K.’s motion for attorney’s fees and costs under the EAJA. It awarded $9,700 in reasonable attorney’s fees and an additional $400 in costs from the Judgment Fund administered by the United States Treasury.
The court stated that the EAJA award is payable to Theodoros K. as the litigant and may be offset to satisfy pre-existing debts owed to the United States. Under Theodoros K.’s assignment of attorney’s fees and costs, the defendant must send the payment, after any required offset, to Theodoros K.’s attorney in Theodoros K.’s name. Judge Katherine M. Menendez signed the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.