Therriault v. Berryhill

• Court: District Court, W.D. Washington
• Decided: June 30, 2020
• Docket: 2:17-cv-00062
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

THE HONORABLE JOHN C. COUGHENOUR 1 2 3 4 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 8 AT SEATTLE 9 GARRET A. THERRIAULT, CASE NO. C17-0062-JCC 10 Plaintiff, ORDER 11 v. 12 NANCY A. BERRYHILL, Acting Commissioner of Social Security 13 Administration, 14 Defendant. 15

16 This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiff’s unopposed motion for attorney fees 17 pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 406(b) (Dkt. No. 25). Plaintiff’s counsel requests $13,000.00 for his 18 representation of Plaintiff in federal court. (Id. at 1.) For the foregoing reasons, the Court 19 GRANTS the motion. 20 I. DISCUSSION 21 Under § 406(b), a court entering judgment in favor of a social security disability 22 insurance claimant who was represented by an attorney “may determine and allow as part of its 23 judgment a reasonable fee for such representation, not in excess of 25 percent of the total of the 24 past-due benefits to which the claimant is entitled by reason of such judgment.” In determining 25 whether to grant a § 406(b) fee request, the court must first ensure that the requested fee is 26 consistent with the contract between the plaintiff and their attorney. See Crawford v. Astrue, 586 1 F.3d 1142, 1148 (9th Cir. 2009) (citing Gisbrecht v. Barnhart, 535 U.S. 789, 808–09 (2002)). 2 The court must then test the requested fee for reasonableness. Id. (citing Gisbrecht, 535 U.S. at 3 808). The court has broad discretion to decide if a fee request is reasonable or to adjust a fee 4 downward if the request is unreasonable. See Gisbrecht, 535 U.S. at 808. 5 Here, the request of Plaintiff’s attorney is appropriate under § 406(b). Plaintiff is entitled 6 to past-due benefits totaling over $62,000.00. (Dkt. No. 25 at 2.) Plaintiff’s attorney has 7 requested an award of $13,000.00 in attorney fees. (Id. at 1.) This figure is significantly lower 8 than the statutory cap and the 25 percent that Plaintiff agreed to pay his attorney. (See Dkt. No. 9 26-3 at 1.) And this effective hourly rate is similar to those approved by other courts in such 10 actions, properly accounts for the risks involved in social security litigation, and is reasonable in 11 light of the efficient and effective representation provided by Plaintiff’s attorney. See Shubin v. 12 Colvin, 2015 WL 233243, slip op. at 2 & n.2 (C.D. Cal. 2015) (observing that courts often 13 approve hourly fees in excess of $1,000); Hayes v. Sec. of Health and Human Servs., 923 F.2d 14 418, 422 (6th Cir. 1990) (remarking on the fact that effective hourly rates in social security cases 15 are higher than normal given then inherent risks in such cases). Accordingly, the Court 16 AWARDS attorney fees totaling of $13,000.00 to Plaintiff’s attorney pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 17 § 406(b). 18 II. CONCLUSION 19 For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff’s motion for attorney fees (Dkt. No. 25) is 20 GRANTED. Plaintiff’s attorney is AWARDED attorney fees totaling $13,000.00. Defendant is 21 DIRECTED to send a fee of $13,000.00 to Plaintiff’s attorney at P.O. Box 31844, Seattle, WA 22 98103, minus any applicable processing fees as allowed by statute. Plaintiff’s attorney is 23 DIRECTED to reimburse Plaintiff the $3,857.08 fee previously received pursuant to the Equal 24 Access to Justice Act. 25 // 26 // 1 DATED this 30th day of June 2020. A 2 3 4 John C. Coughenour 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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