Cruz v. Commissioner of Social Security

Background

Plaintiff filed a motion for attorneys’ fees on September 1, 2022. Magistrate Judge Gary R. Jones later issued a report and recommendation recommending that the motion be granted in part and denied in part. The Report recommended fees at $209 per hour for 2.2 hours of preparation before the case began, 24 hours of litigation that led to a remand to the Administrative Law Judge for further proceedings, 40 hours of work after the remand, and 4.4 hours spent preparing the fee application. The recommended award was $14,755.40.

Objections and analysis

Plaintiff objected to the recommendation allowing 40 hours for work after the remand instead of the requested 61.5 hours. The court independently reviewed that issue. It rejected Plaintiff’s argument that the usual 20-to-40-hour range for Social Security disability cases should not apply because much of the requested post-remand work involved administrative proceedings. The court noted that only about 10% of the 61.5 hours involved administrative proceedings and that 40 hours was at the high end of the usual range.

The court also rejected Plaintiff’s argument that the case involved novel or complex issues. It found that the case involved standard evidence and arguments concerning Plaintiff’s impairments and whether they were equivalent to impairments listed in Social Security regulations. The court explained that the Report did not reduce the hours merely because counsel was experienced; instead, it considered whether experienced counsel could have presented the substantially similar post-remand issues more efficiently. The court also agreed that the time records showed duplicative efforts by Daniel Jones and Daniel Berger, whose research and drafting produced briefs with largely similar arguments before and after the remand.

Plaintiff did not object to the other portions of the Report, including the reduction of time spent before the litigation began. The court found no clear error in those recommendations. Plaintiff also requested fees for 1.9 hours spent preparing the objections. Although the objections were unsuccessful, the court held that applicable Second Circuit law permits a party who prevailed on the claim to recover fees for an unsuccessful motion pursued while litigating that claim. Those additional fees totaled $397.10.

Disposition

Judge Lorna G. Schofield ordered that the Report be adopted in full. The court awarded Plaintiff’s counsel $14,755.40 for work through the filing of the Report and an additional $397.10 for work related to the objections, for a total attorneys’ fee award of $15,152.50. The Clerk was directed to close the motion at Docket No. 51 and terminate the case.