Lopez v. Commissioner of Social Security

Background

Daniel Berger, attorney for Mirna Juet Lopez, asked the court to award attorney’s fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), a provision allowing a court to approve fees for representation in Social Security court proceedings. The opinion states that Lopez had been awarded past-due benefits and that the requested fee represented 25% of those benefits.

Fee award

The court ordered that $24,123.75 be paid to Berger. It also ordered that, under Lopez’s fee agreement, counsel could not attempt to collect or retain more than $24,123.75 in combined fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(a) and § 406(b).

The order states that the agency had inadvertently withheld less than 25% of Lopez’s past-due benefits. Because the court had found the fee reasonable, Berger was directed to follow the Social Security Administration’s procedure to recover the remaining $18,123.75 that the agency had not withheld.

Payment to Lopez and disposition

After receiving the court-authorized fees, Berger was directed to send Lopez $3,865.00. That amount represented attorney’s fees previously awarded under the Equal Access to Justice Act. Judge Jesse Furman also directed the clerk to terminate docket entry ECF No. 18. This was a fee order rather than a decision on the underlying Social Security benefits dispute.