Perrozzi v. Saul
- Katharine Parker
- 1:19-cv-07790
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Perrozzi v. Saul, Magistrate Judge Parker approved $5,391 in attorney fees after deducting earlier government-paid fees.
Frank Perrozzi, Jr.’s attorneys received court approval for $5,391 in additional fees, while the approved amount was reduced to account for $6,475 in earlier Equal Access to Justice Act fees.
What happened
In Perrozzi v. Saul, the court had previously sent Frank Perrozzi, Jr.’s Social Security case back to the Commissioner for further proceedings. After Perrozzi received an award of benefits, his attorneys asked the court to approve $11,866 in additional fees for their work in the district court.
The Commissioner did not oppose the request. The court found that the attorneys’ work was successful, detailed, efficient, and reasonably compensated at the requested rate. But the court reduced the requested amount by $6,475 in fees previously paid under the Equal Access to Justice Act.
Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker granted the motion in the amount of $5,391, calculated as $11,866 minus $6,475.
The detailed version
- Perrozzi v. Saul · No. 1:19-cv-07790
- Katharine Parker
- July 6, 2021
Background
The court had remanded this Social Security case to the Commissioner under sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) for further administrative proceedings. The opinion states that the attorneys later obtained an award of benefits for Frank Perrozzi, Jr.
Perrozzi’s attorneys moved for additional attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b). That statute allows a court to approve a reasonable fee for an attorney’s representation in a Social Security case, subject to a limit of 25 percent of the claimant’s past-due benefits. The Commissioner did not object to the fee request and conceded that the motion was timely.
Court’s analysis
The court concluded that the relevant factors supported the request. It found that the attorneys were successful, submitted detailed memoranda containing factual and legal analysis rather than boilerplate arguments, handled the case efficiently, and spent a reasonable amount of time on the services provided. The requested $11,866 fee was within the 25-percent limit and represented an hourly rate of $340.59 for 34.84 hours of attorney work. The court found that rate reasonable.
The court nevertheless reduced the award by $6,475, the amount of fees that the opinion says counsel had previously received under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The court therefore calculated the approved fee as $11,866 minus $6,475.
Disposition
Judge Katharine H. Parker granted the motion for approval of attorney fees in the amount of $5,391. The opinion does not state that the motion was granted with or without prejudice.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.