(SS) Ligons v. Commissioner of Social Security ( 2023 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 GARY LEON LIGONS, No. 2:21-cv-00084 CKD 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 KILOLO KIJAKAZI, Acting 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 $50,000.00 for 44.35 hours of professional time devoted 20 to the representation of plaintiff before this court in two federal actions. ECF No. 25. Counsel 21 concedes that this amount should be offset in the amount of $9,213.00 for fees previously 22 awarded under EAJA: $3,913.00 in the earlier case and $5,300.00 in the instant action. 23 Defendant has not opposed the motion or filed a response. 24 42 U.S.C. § 406(b)(1)(A) provides, in relevant part: 25 Whenever a court renders a judgment favorable to a claimant under this subchapter who was represented before the court by an attorney, 26 the court may determine and allow as part of its judgment a reasonable fee for such representation, not in excess of 25 percent of 27 the total of the past-due benefits to which the claimant is entitled by reason of such judgment. 28 1 Rather than being paid by the government, fees under the Social Security Act are awarded out of 2 the claimant’s disability benefits. Russell v. Sullivan, 930 F.2d 1443, 1446 (9th Cir. 1991), 3 receded from on other grounds, Sorenson v. Mink, 239 F.3d 1140, 1149 (9th Cir. 2001). 4 However, the 25 percent statutory maximum fee is not an automatic entitlement; the court also 5 must ensure that the requested fee is reasonable. Gisbrecht v. Barnhart, 535 U.S. 789, 808-09 6 (2002) (“We hold that § 406(b) does not displace contingent-fee agreements within the statutory 7 ceiling; instead, § 406(b) instructs courts to review for reasonableness fees yielded by those 8 agreements.”). “Within the 25 percent boundary ... the attorney for the successful claimant must 9 show that the fee sought is reasonable for the services rendered.” Id. at 807. 10 Counsel seeks fees for 44.35 hours of representation in the instant action and plaintiff’s 11 earlier action seeking Social Security benefits, which resulted in a judgment for plaintiff and a 12 remand for further proceedings. Ligons v. Berryhill, 2:17-cv-1283 EFB (E.D. Cal.). The Court 13 has considered the character of counsel’s representation and the good results achieved by counsel, 14 which included an award of $217,857.00 in retroactive benefits. Counsel submitted a detailed 15 billing statement that supports her request. ECF No. 25-4. There is no indication that a reduction 16 of the award is warranted due to any substandard performance by plaintiff’s counsel, as counsel 17 secured a successful result. There is also no evidence that plaintiff’s counsel engaged in any 18 dilatory conduct resulting in delay. 19 Based on the quality of counsel’s representation and the results achieved in this case, the 20 undersigned finds the number of hours expended to be reasonable. Accordingly, the undersigned 21 will award the amount of attorney fees requested. 22 //// 23 //// 24 //// 25 //// 26 //// 27 //// 28 //// ] Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 2 1. Plaintiff's counsel’s motion for attorney fees (ECF No. 25) is granted; and 3 2. Plaintiffs counsel is awarded $50,000.00 in attorney fees pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 4 406(b). Upon payment of the fees sought herein, counsel shall refund plaintiff the 5 amount of $9,213.00 previously awarded under EAJA. 6 | Dated: March 16, 2023 Card ft 4 by ae CAROLYN K.DELANEY 8 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 9 10 1] 12 13 || 2/igons0084.fee-406(a) 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28