Padilla v. Commissioner of Social Security
- Katharine Parker
- 1:19-cv-01449-KHP
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Padilla v. Commissioner of Social Security, Judge Katharine H. Parker approved $7,250 in attorney fees.
Erick Antonio Padilla’s attorney was approved to receive $7,250 from the Social Security Administration under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b). The order also concerns Padilla because the fee is tied to his past-due benefits.
What happened
In Erick Antonio Padilla v. Commissioner of Social Security, Padilla’s case had previously been sent back to the Social Security agency for further proceedings. His attorney later asked the court to approve an additional $7,250 in fees for work performed in court.
The request was made under a federal law allowing reasonable attorney fees of up to 25 percent of a claimant’s past-due benefits. The Commissioner received the request but did not respond. The court considered the fee agreement, the work performed, the result obtained, and whether the requested amount would be excessive.
Judge Katharine H. Parker granted the application. She found that the fee was within the 25-percent limit, reflected approximately 15 hours of reasonable work, was not a windfall, and was not affected by fraud, overreaching, or attorney-caused delay. The court directed the Social Security Administration to approve and pay the $7,250 to Padilla’s counsel.
The detailed version
- Padilla v. Commissioner of Social Security · No. 1:19-cv-01449-KHP
- Katharine H. Parker
- Mar. 4, 2022
Background
On August 19, 2019, the court sent Padilla’s Social Security case back to the Commissioner of Social Security under sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) for further administrative proceedings. On November 12, 2019, the court approved an attorney-fee award of $2,572.50 under the Equal Access to Justice Act. After the proceedings on remand were completed, Padilla’s counsel moved for an additional $7,250 under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b). The Commissioner was served with the submissions but did not respond.
Legal standard
Section 406(b) allows a court to approve a reasonable fee for an attorney who represented a claimant in court, subject to a limit of 25 percent of the claimant’s past-due benefits resulting from the favorable judgment. The court considered whether counsel’s work was successful, whether the work required meaningful legal effort rather than boilerplate filings, and whether the case was handled efficiently. It also considered whether the fee agreement involved fraud or overreaching, whether the requested fee would be a windfall, whether counsel caused delay, and the time spent on the case.
Court’s analysis
The court found that the factors supported the request. The $7,250 fee did not exceed 25 percent of the past-due benefits and represented an effective hourly rate of $493.20 for approximately 15 hours of work. The court found the hours reasonable in light of the services provided and concluded that counsel had achieved a successful result through the remand.
The court also found that the requested fee was not a windfall in light of the contingency-fee agreement. It found no evidence of fraud or overreaching, determined that counsel was not responsible for delay, and found that counsel provided effective representation.
Disposition
The court granted Padilla’s application for $7,250 in attorney fees under Section 406(b). It directed the Social Security Administration to approve and effectuate payment of that amount to Padilla’s counsel. This order addressed attorney fees rather than the underlying merits of Padilla’s Social Security claim.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.