Molina v. Saul
- Judith McCarthy
- 7:19-cv-10575
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 7
In Melissa Molina v. Andrew M. Saul, Judge McCarthy granted counsel’s fee motion and awarded a net $3,200 under the Social Security Act.
Melissa Molina and her attorney, Lewis B. Insler, were directly affected by the fee award; the award is paid from Molina’s past-due benefits rather than by the Commissioner as a separate fee-shifting payment.
What happened
In Melissa Molina v. Andrew M. Saul, Melissa Molina asked a federal court to review the denial of her disability-benefits application. The court sent the case back for further proceedings, and an administrative judge later found that Molina was disabled and entitled to benefits.
Molina’s attorney, Lewis B. Insler, asked for $5,500 in fees for 13.04 hours of work under the Social Security Act. The Commissioner did not oppose the request. The court found the motion timely and the fee reasonable because it was within the 25-percent limit, involved no fraud or overreaching, and was not an improper windfall.
Judge McCarthy granted the motion and awarded $5,500 in attorney’s fees, resulting in a stated net award of $3,200 after accounting for an earlier fee award under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The opinion contains an inconsistency about whether that earlier amount was $2,300 or $3,200.
The detailed version
- Molina v. Saul · No. 7:19-cv-10575
- Judith McCarthy
- May 25, 2021
Background
Melissa Molina filed an action under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) seeking review of the Commissioner of Social Security’s denial of her application for disability benefits. The parties agreed to remand the case for further administrative proceedings. After the remand, an Administrative Law Judge found that Molina was disabled and entitled to benefits as of June 2015. The Social Security Administration then issued a notice of award.
Molina’s attorney, Lewis B. Insler, moved under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b) for $5,500 in attorney’s fees for 13.04 hours of work performed in federal court. The Commissioner did not oppose the motion. The requested fee was less than 25 percent of Molina’s past-due benefits, which the opinion states totaled $59,860.50 for purposes of the fee calculation.
Court’s analysis
The court held that the motion was timely. Under Second Circuit precedent, the usual 14-day deadline for a fee motion is adjusted in Social Security cases because the amount of past-due benefits may not be known when the case is remanded. Insler filed the motion four days after learning the amount of Molina’s benefits award.
The court also found the requested fee reasonable. Section 406(b) permits a fee of up to 25 percent of past-due benefits for court representation. The court found no fraud or overreaching in the contingency-fee agreement and concluded that the requested amount would not be a windfall. It considered the time spent, the favorable result, the contingency risk, the requested effective hourly rate of approximately $421.78, and the Commissioner’s lack of opposition.
Disposition
The court granted Molina’s motion and awarded $5,500 to Insler under § 406(b). The order states that this amount was to be reduced by $3,200 already received under the Equal Access to Justice Act, producing a net award of $3,200.
The opinion contains an internal inconsistency. Earlier, it says that the EAJA award was $2,300 and that Insler would refund that amount, which would ordinarily leave a $3,200 net § 406(b) payment. The conclusion instead refers to $3,200 as the amount already received under the EAJA while still stating a $3,200 net award.
Read the full 7-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.