Duffy v. Commissioner of Social Security Administration ( 2021 )

1 WO 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 8 9 John Duffy, No. CV-19-08161-PCT-JAT 10 Plaintiff, ORDER 11 v. 12 Commissioner of Social Security Administration, 13 Defendant. 14 15 Pending before the Court is Plaintiff’s counsel’s motion for attorney’s fees pursuant 16 to 42 U.S.C. § 406(b). Counsel seeks $22,946.75 in fees. (Doc. 28 at 1). Counsel 17 acknowledges that the $9,800.00 in attorney’s fees previously awarded under the Equal 18 Access to Justice Act (“EAJA”) must be paid to the client. 19 The Government takes no position on the amount of fees requested under § 406(b). 20 (Doc. 29). The Court finds the Gisbrecht factors have been met; the amount requested 21 under § 406(b) is within the statutory guidelines and is reasonable. See Gisbrecht v. 22 Barnhart, 535 U.S. 789 (2002). 23 The parties dispute how the $9,800.00 will be paid to the client. Plaintiff’s counsel 24 wants the Government to pay $9,800.00 directly to the client (at an unknown point in time) 25 by the Government paying only $13,146.75 of the $22,946.75 sought to Plaintiff’s counsel. 26 The Government states that such a procedure is not permitted by law; instead, the 27 Government states that it must pay the full $22,946.75 to Plaintiff’s counsel, and Plaintiff’s 28 counsel must refund the $9,800.00 in awarded EAJA fees to the client. The Court agrees 1 || with the Government that the language of Gisbrecht, 535 U.S. at 796, states that Plaintiff's 2 || counsel shall “refund” the EAJA fees to the Plaintiff. Thus, Plaintiff's counsel will be required to refund $9,800.00 to the client. 4 Based on the foregoing, 5 IT IS ORDERED granting the motion for attorney’s fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 6|| 406(b) (Doc. 28); Plaintiff’s counsel is awarded $22,946.75 in fees subject to the amount 7\| to be refunded by Plaintiff's counsel to the client as discussed above. 8 Dated this 20th day of April, 2021. 9 10 i C 11 James A. Teilborg 12 Senior United States District Judge 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 _2-