Brown v. Berryhill
- Figueredo
- 1:18-cv-01320-VF
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Brown v. Berryhill, Judge Figueredo approved $13,578.75 in Social Security attorney’s fees and ordered counsel to return Brown’s $4,325 EAJA payment.
Elisa Brown, her attorneys, and the Social Security Administration were affected. Brown’s attorneys may receive $13,578.75 from her past-due benefits but must return the $4,325 Equal Access to Justice Act award to Brown.
What happened
In Brown v. Berryhill, Elisa Brown challenged the denial of her Social Security benefits. The case was sent back to the Social Security Administration for further proceedings, after which the agency found Brown disabled and awarded past-due benefits.
Brown’s attorneys requested $13,578.75 under a fee agreement allowing up to 25% of her past-due benefits. The amount was withheld from those benefits, and the Commissioner did not object. Brown’s attorneys had recorded 22.30 hours of work in federal court.
Judge Valerie Figueredo granted the fee request. The court found the amount reasonable and ordered counsel to return Brown’s earlier $4,325 award under the Equal Access to Justice Act.
The detailed version
- Brown v. Berryhill · No. 1:18-cv-01320-VF
- Figueredo
- July 12, 2022
Background
Elisa Brown sought review under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) after her application for Social Security benefits was denied initially and after a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. The parties later agreed to send the case back to the Commissioner for further proceedings. The court approved a $4,325 attorney-fee award under the Equal Access to Justice Act, a federal law that permits certain fee awards against the government.
After the remand, the Commissioner found Brown disabled and awarded past-due benefits. The Commissioner withheld $13,578.75, equal to 25% of those benefits, for payment of Brown’s attorneys. The contingent-fee agreement allowed counsel to receive up to 25% of past-due benefits. Charles E. Binder and Daniel S. Jones recorded a combined 22.30 hours of work in the federal-court case, and the Commissioner did not oppose the request.
Court’s analysis
Under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), a court may approve a reasonable fee for a lawyer who represented a claimant and obtained a favorable result. The fee cannot exceed 25% of the claimant’s past-due benefits. The court considered the successful result, the work performed, the efficiency of the representation, the contingent-fee agreement, the absence of fraud or overreaching, whether the requested fee would be an improper windfall, and whether counsel caused delay.
The court found that all relevant factors supported the requested fee. The $13,578.75 fee was within the 25% limit and resulted in an effective hourly rate of $608.91 based on 22.30 hours of work. The court found the hours reasonable, the representation effective, and the fee not an improper windfall, particularly because the case was handled under a contingent-fee agreement and counsel obtained the remand and ultimately a favorable benefits decision.
Ruling
Judge Valerie Figueredo granted Brown’s application for $13,578.75 in attorney’s fees. The court directed the Social Security Administration to approve and pay that amount to Brown’s counsel. Because Brown had also received the $4,325 Equal Access to Justice Act award, the court ordered counsel to return that amount to Brown. The court directed the Clerk of Court to close the fee motion.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.