Petrie v. Sullivan

800 F. Supp. 632, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14782, 1992 WL 247015
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedSeptember 30, 1992
DocketNo. 87 C 9100
StatusPublished

This text of 800 F. Supp. 632 (Petrie v. Sullivan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Petrie v. Sullivan, 800 F. Supp. 632, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14782, 1992 WL 247015 (N.D. Ill. 1992).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

BRIAN BARNETT DUFF, District Judge.

This case comes before the court on plaintiff’s amended motion for attorney’s fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412 (“EAJA”).

BACKGROUND

On October 21, 1987, plaintiff filed this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) seeking judicial review of the defendant’s denial of her claims for Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income benefits. On September 4, 1990, this court found that the defendant’s decision denying plaintiff’s claims was not supported by substantial evidence. Accordingly, the case was remanded back to the defendant for the taking of additional medical expert testimony.

On July 3, 1991, plaintiff moved for an award of attorney’s fees under the EAJA. Defendant opposed the motion on the grounds that it was not timely filed and that plaintiff was not a “prevailing party” within the meaning of the EAJA. The motion was briefed by both parties.

On August 22, 1991, the Administrative Law Judge decided on remand that plaintiff was in fact disabled and was therefore entitled to disability benefits.

On December 5, 1991, plaintiff filed an amended motion for attorney’s fees under EAJA. Defendant did not file a response to the amended motion.

DISCUSSION

The relevant EAJA statute, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(1)(A), (B), provides as follows:

“(A) Except as otherwise specifically provided by statute, a court shall award to a prevailing party other than the United States fees and other ex-penses____incurred by that party in any civil action (other than cases sounding in tort), including proceedings for judicial review of agency action, brought by or against the United States in any court having jurisdiction of that action, unless the court finds that the position of the [634]*634United States was substantially justified or that special circumstances make an award unjust.
(B) A party seeking an award of fees and other expenses shall, within thirty days of final judgment in the action, submit to the court an application for fees and other expenses which shows that the party is a prevailing party and is eligible to receive an award under this subsection____”

28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(1)(A), (B) (emphasis added). Hence, plaintiff must satisfy three requirements to warrant an EAJA fee award: 1) plaintiff must be a “prevailing party”; 2) defendant’s position must not have been “substantially justified”; and 3) the fee application must be timely.

An applicant for disability benefits who wins a favorable administrative ruling after post-remand administrative proceedings is a “prevailing party” under the EAJA. Damato v. Sullivan, 945 F.2d 982, 987 n. 2 (7th Cir.1991). Since the ALJ ruled in plaintiff’s favor on remand, plaintiff was a “prevailing party”. Moreover, defendant has not asserted that its position was “substantially justified” pursuant to § 2412(d)(1)(B). Plaintiff therefore easily satisfies the first two of the three EAJA fee requirements.

The court must therefore address the timeliness of plaintiff’s fee application. To be timely, the party seeking an EAJA fee award must file its application “within 30 days of the final judgment in the action----” § 2412(d)(1)(B) (emphasis added). This court’s September 4, 1990 order (the “Remand Order”) adopted Magistrate Judge Bobrick’s recommendation that the case be remanded to the defendant for additional findings. Defendant therefore asserts that September 4, 1990 was the date of “final judgment.” If so, then plaintiff’s fee application was untimely, since it was not filed until July 3, 1991. The court must therefore determine whether the Remand Order was the “final judgment” for § 2412(d)(1)(B) purposes. If not, the court must determine what was the date of “final judgment”.

Whether the Remand Order was a “final judgment” depends on the nature of the remand under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), the statute providing for this sort of judicial review. As recently explained by the Supreme Court, there are only two kinds of remands permissible under § 405(g):

“Under sentence four [of § 405(g)], a district court may remand in conjunction with a judgment affirming, modifying, or reversing the Secretary’s decision. Under sentence six, the district court may remand in light of additional evidence without making any substantive ruling as to the correctness of the Secretary’s decision, but only if the claimant shows good cause for failing to present the evidence earlier. Congress’ explicit delineation in § 405(g) regarding the circumstances under which remands are authorized leads us to concluded that it intended to limit the district court’s authority to enter remand orders to these two types.”

Melkonyan v. Sullivan, — U.S. -, -, 111 S.Ct. 2157, 2164, 115 L.Ed.2d 78 (1991) (footnote omitted). As explained in Melkonyan, a “sentence four” remand (a substantive ruling) is a “final judgment” triggering the § 2412(d)(1)(B) fee application filing period. Id. at -, 111 S.Ct. at 2165. In contrast, a “sentence six” remand (which is nonsubstantive) is not a “final judgment.” Id. Accordingly, with a “sentence six” remand, “the filing period does not begin until after the post-remand proceedings are completed, the Secretary returns to court, the court enters a final judgment, and the appeal period runs.” Id.

Defendant argues that the Remand Order was a “sentence four” remand, because this court determined that the ALJ’s decision was not supported by substantial evidence. Essentially, defendant argues that the court reversed the AU’s decision due to error. However, nothing in the Remand Order indicates that the remand was accompanied by a judgment affirming, modifying, or reversing the defendant’s decision, as is required for a “sentence four” remand. The Remand Order merely states that “this court adopts the Magistrate’s Report and Recommendation in full and [635]*635denies the cross-motions for summary judgment and remands this case back to the Secretary for further proceedings in accordance with the Report and Recommendation.” As noted above, Magistrate Bobrick recommended that the case be remanded so that defendant could take additional medical testimony regarding plaintiffs capacity to work. Furthermore, the fact that both motions for summary judgment were denied indicates that the court did not affirm, modify, or reverse the defendant’s decision.

In a virtually identical Social Security/EAJA case involving a remand for additional findings, the Seventh Circuit recently held that the district court’s remand order was not a “sentence four” remand, since the remand was not accompanied by an affirming, modifying, or reversing judgment. Young v. Sullivan, No. 88 C 7309, slip op. at 8 (7th Cir. Aug. 14, 1992). Consistent with

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Related

Carter v. Sullivan
782 F. Supp. 1251 (N.D. Illinois, 1991)
Melkonyan v. Sullivan
501 U.S. 89 (Supreme Court, 1991)

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Bluebook (online)
800 F. Supp. 632, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14782, 1992 WL 247015, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/petrie-v-sullivan-ilnd-1992.