Smith v. Social Security Administration Commissioner
Filing
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ORDER granting Plaintiff's 31 Motion for Attorney Fees is granted. Plaintiff is awarded $6,732.72 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2412. Signed by Judge David G Campbell on 6/13/2014.(LFIG)
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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA
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Suzanne Smith,
No. CV-13-00507-PHX-DGC
Plaintiff,
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v.
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ORDER
Social Security Administration
Commissioner,
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Defendant.
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Plaintiff brought this action for judicial review pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g)
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after her application for disability benefits was denied. Doc. 1. The Court reversed
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Defendant’s decision and remanded the case for an award of benefits. Doc. 28.
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Plaintiff has filed a motion for attorney’s fees pursuant to the Equal Access to
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Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412 (“EAJA”). Doc. 31. The motion is fully briefed and no
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party has requested oral argument. For reasons that follow, the Court will grant the
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motion and award attorney’s fees in the amount of $6,732.72.
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“The EAJA creates a presumption that fees will be awarded to prevailing parties.”
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Flores v. Shalala, 49 F.3d 562, 567 (9th Cir. 1995). Plaintiff is a prevailing party
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because this matter was remanded pursuant to sentence four of the Social Security Act,
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42 U.S.C. § 405(g).
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Gutierrez v. Barnhart, 274 F.3d 1255, 1257 (9th Cir. 2001). The Court should award
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reasonable attorney’s fees under the EAJA unless Defendant shows that her position in
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this case was “substantially justified or that special circumstances make an award unjust.”
Doc. 28; see Shalala v. Schaefer, 509 U.S. 292, 301 (1993);
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28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(1)(A); see Gutierrez, 274 F.3d at 1258. A position is substantially
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justified “if it has a reasonable basis in fact and law.” Pierce v. Underwood, 487 U.S.
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552, 566 n.2 (1988).
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Defendant does not contend that an award of fees in this case would be unjust.
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Nor has she shown that the positions taken in defense of the ALJ’s erroneous decision
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were substantially justified.
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disagree whether the [ALJ’s] decision in this case was appropriate,” her position in this
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case was substantially justified. Doc. 33 at 3. The Court found that the ALJ committed
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legal error by failing to identify legally sufficient reasons for rejecting the opinion of Dr.
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Nuttall, one of Plaintiff’s treating physicians. Doc. 28 at 3. The Court found that the
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ALJ failed to offer anything more than conclusions in support of his decision to reject the
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opinion of Dr. Nuttall. Because the ALJ’s decision clearly did not comport with the
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Ninth Circuit’s requirement for rejecting the opinion of a treating or examining
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physician, Defendant’s position cannot be said to have a “reasonable basis in law” and
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was not substantially justified.
Defendant argues that because “reasonable people can
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Plaintiff’s counsel, Julie L. Glover, has filed an affidavit (Doc. 31-4) and an
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itemized statement of fees (Doc. 31-2) showing that she worked 36.00 hours on this case.
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Having reviewed the affidavit and the statement of fees, and having considered the
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relevant fee award factors, see Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 429-30 & n.3 (1983),
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the Court finds that the amount of the requested fee award is reasonable.
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IT IS ORDERED:
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Plaintiff’s motion for attorney’s fees (Doc. 31) is granted.
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Plaintiff is awarded $6,732.72 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2412.
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Dated this 13th day of June, 2014.
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