Janes v. Berryhill

Background

Sean Janes sued under Section 405(g) of the Social Security Act seeking review of an administrative law judge’s denial of his application for disability insurance benefits. The parties later entered a stipulation and order remanding the case, and the Clerk entered judgment remanding it.

Janes then moved for attorney’s fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act, a federal statute that can authorize fees in qualifying cases against the government. His counsel initially filed a declaration from a different case. Counsel later filed a corrected declaration seeking $6,447.78 in attorney’s fees and costs, and asked the court to accept the corrected declaration as relating back to the original, timely motion. The government opposed that request.

Court’s Analysis

Magistrate Judge Stewart D. Aaron recommended granting permission to file the corrected declaration and awarding $6,447.78 in attorney’s fees. No party objected to the report and recommendation. Judge Daniels therefore reviewed it for clear error, meaning an obvious mistake after reviewing the record, and found none.

The court agreed that the principles discussed in Scarborough v. Principi supported allowing the correction. It also relied on the reasoning that a court may permit supplementation of a timely Equal Access to Justice Act fee application when the government has not been prejudiced and court deadlines have been followed. The court found that Janes’s fee-motion notice was timely, even though it included an erroneous declaration, and that the government had not shown prejudice.

The court also reviewed the recommended fee calculation and found no error, clear or otherwise.

Disposition

The court adopted Magistrate Judge Aaron’s report in full. Janes’s motion for attorney’s fees was granted, and his letter motion seeking permission to correct the supporting declaration was also granted. The court ordered the defendant to pay Janes $6,447.78 in attorney’s fees and directed the Clerk of Court to close the motions.