Boylan v. Colvin
- Laura Swain
- 1:15-cv-06730-LTS-JCF
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Boylan v. Saul, Judge Swain granted counsel’s fee motion, awarding $11,322 and requiring a $7,100 refund to Janet Boylan.
Janet Boylan and her attorney, Howard Olinsky; the order awarded Olinsky $11,322 and required him to refund Boylan $7,100.
What happened
In Boylan v. Saul, attorney Howard Olinsky sought fees for representing Janet Boylan in her Social Security disability case. The case was sent back to the Social Security Administration, which later awarded Boylan $69,328 in past-due benefits. The government opposed the fee request as late.
The court held that the filing deadline was paused until Olinsky learned about the benefits award because he had not received notice from the agency and was not responsible for the delay. Olinsky filed his motion the day after learning of the award.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain granted the motion and awarded $11,322 in attorney’s fees. The court also required Olinsky to refund Boylan the $7,100 previously awarded under the Equal Access to Justice Act.
The detailed version
- Boylan v. Colvin · No. 1:15-cv-06730-LTS-JCF
- Laura Swain
- Sept. 2, 2020
Background
Janet Boylan appealed the denial of her applications for disability insurance benefits. She and attorney Howard Olinsky signed a contingency-fee agreement providing that, if Boylan prevailed, Olinsky would receive 25 percent of her past-due benefits. The court previously reversed and remanded the case to the Commissioner under sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), and later awarded Olinsky $7,100 under the Equal Access to Justice Act.
On remand, Olinsky did not represent Boylan before the agency and was not the attorney of record. An administrative law judge later issued a fully favorable decision awarding Boylan $69,328 in past-due benefits. Boylan’s representative before the agency was authorized to receive $6,000 from that award. The Social Security Administration did not send Olinsky the notice of award, and the representative did not notify him until December 12, 2018. Olinsky filed his fee motion on December 13, 2018.
Legal question
The motion sought fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b)(1)(A), which permits a court to award a reasonable fee for representation in court in a successful Social Security case, subject to a 25-percent cap on past-due benefits. The Commissioner argued that the motion was untimely because it was filed nearly a year after the administrative award.
Court’s analysis
The court relied on the Second Circuit’s decision in Sinkler v. Berryhill, which allows equitable tolling—pausing the filing deadline when fairness requires it—in this situation. The court concluded that the 14-day deadline did not begin until Olinsky received notice of the benefits award and could calculate the maximum fee. Because Olinsky was not at fault for the delay, had made routine inquiries, and filed the motion promptly after learning of the award, the court found the motion timely.
The court then reviewed the contingency-fee agreement and the work records. It found no evidence that the requested fee was unreasonable and determined that the hours claimed were not excessive, redundant, or unnecessary.
Disposition
Judge Laura Taylor Swain granted the motion and awarded attorney’s fees of $11,322. Olinsky must refund Boylan the $7,100 previously awarded under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The order resolved docket entry number 28.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.