(SS) Molina v. Commissioner of Social Security

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 LELANI MOLINA, No. 2:17-cv-01991-CKD 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, 15 Defendant. 16

17 18 Based on 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), counsel for plaintiff in the above-entitled action seeks an 19 award of attorney fees in the amount of $20,570.00 for 37.4 hours of professional time devoted to 20 the representation of plaintiff before this court. ECF No. 22. Counsel concedes that this amount 21 should be offset by $5,600.00 in fees previously awarded under EAJA. See ECF No. 21. 22 Defendant has filed a response and does not oppose the amount requested. ECF No. 24. 23 42 U.S.C. § 406(b)(1)(A) provides, in relevant part: 24 Whenever a court renders a judgment favorable to a claimant under this subchapter who was represented before the court by an attorney, 25 the court may determine and allow as part of its judgment a reasonable fee for such representation, not in excess of 25 percent of 26 the total of the past-due benefits to which the claimant is entitled by reason of such judgment. 27 28 Rather than being paid by the government, fees under the Social Security Act are awarded out of 1 || the claimant’s disability benefits. Russell v. Sullivan, 930 F.2d 1443, 1446 (9th Cir. 1991), 2 || receded from on other grounds, Sorenson v. Mink, 239 F.3d 1140, 1149 (9th Cir. 2001). 3 || However, the 25 percent statutory maximum fee is not an automatic entitlement; the court also 4 || must ensure that the requested fee is reasonable. Gisbrecht v. Barnhart, 535 U.S. 789, 808-09 5 || (2002) (“We hold that § 406(b) does not displace contingent-fee agreements within the statutory 6 || ceiling; instead, § 406(b) instructs courts to review for reasonableness fees yielded by those 7 || agreements.”). “Within the 25 percent boundary ... the attorney for the successful claimant must 8 | show that the fee sought is reasonable for the services rendered.” Id. at 807. 9 Counsel seeks fees for 37.4 hours of representation in the instant action, which resulted in 10 | ajudgment for plaintiff and a remand for further proceedings. See ECF No. 18. The Court has 11 || considered the character of counsel’s representation and the good results achieved by counsel, 12 || which included an award of $93,208.00 in retroactive benefits. See ECF Nos. 22 at 3, n.1 & 22-2. 13 || Counsel submitted a detailed billing statement that supports her request. ECF No. 22-3. There is 14 | no indication that a reduction of the award 1s warranted due to any substandard performance by 15 | plaintiffs counsel, as counsel secured a successful result. There is also no evidence that 16 | plaintiffs counsel engaged in any dilatory conduct resulting in delay. 17 Based on the quality of counsel’s representation and the results achieved in this case, the 18 || undersigned finds the number of hours expended to be reasonable. Accordingly, the undersigned 19 | will award the amount of attorney fees requested. 20 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 21 1. Plaintiffs counsel’s motion for attorney fees (ECF No. 22) is granted; and 22 2. Plaintiffs counsel is awarded $20,570.00 in attorney fees pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 23 406(b). Upon payment of the fees sought herein, counsel shall refund plaintiff the 24 amount of $5,600.00 previously awarded under EAJA. 25 | Dated: March 15, 2024 □□ / dp ai 26 CAROLYNK. DELANEY 27 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 28 || 2/molinal991 .fee-406(a)