Dupree v. Commissioner of Social Security
- Alison Nathan
- 1:18-cv-07569-AJN-KNF
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Dupree v. Commissioner of Social Security, Judge Nathan found no clear error, adopted Judge Fox’s order, and granted Dupree’s motion for attorney’s fees.
Dupree received a ruling granting the motion for attorney’s fees, and the Commissioner of Social Security was ordered to pay the fees awarded in the earlier order. The opinion does not state the amount.
What happened
In Dupree v. Commissioner of Social Security, the court reviewed an earlier order granting Dupree’s motion for attorney’s fees against the Commissioner of Social Security.
No party filed an objection by the deadline. The court therefore reviewed the earlier order for clear error, meaning an obvious mistake in the record, and found none.
Judge Nathan adopted the earlier order in full and granted Dupree’s motion for attorney’s fees. The court directed the Clerk to enter judgment and close the case.
The detailed version
- Dupree v. Commissioner of Social Security · No. 1:18-cv-07569-AJN-KNF
- Alison Nathan
- Mar. 1, 2022
Background
On May 6, 2021, the court referred Dupree’s motion for attorney’s fees against the Commissioner of Social Security to Magistrate Judge Kevin Nathaniel Fox. On September 15, 2021, Judge Fox issued an order granting the motion. On February 1, 2022, the court converted that order into a report and recommendation and gave the parties 14 days to file objections.
Review standard
Under 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1), a district court may accept, reject, or modify a magistrate judge’s recommendations. When no timely objections are filed, the district court reviews the recommendation for clear error on the face of the record. The court explained that clear error exists only when review of the entire record leaves the court with a firm conviction that a mistake was made.
No objections were filed by the deadline. The court therefore reviewed Judge Fox’s September 15, 2021 order for clear error and found none.
Ruling
The court adopted Judge Fox’s order in its entirety and granted Dupree’s motion for attorney’s fees against the Commissioner of Social Security. It directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment consistent with Judge Fox’s order and close the case. The opinion does not state the amount of the attorney’s-fee award.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.