Smith v. Social Security Administration

Filing 17

ORDER granting in part and denying in part 14 Plaintiff's Motion for Attorney Fees Pursuant to the EAJA. Signed by Magistrate Judge J. Thomas Ray on 04/02/2013. (jak)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS
JONESBORO DIVISION

PATRICIA ANN SMITH

V.

PLAINTIFF

NO. 3:12CV00070 JTR

CAROLYN W. COLVIN,
Commissioner, Social
Security Administration

DEFENDANT

ORDER
Pending before the Court is Plaintiff’s Motion requesting an award of
attorney’s fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (“EAJA”). (Docket entry
#14).
Plaintiff's attorney, David J, Throesch, requests a total payment of $5,049.00
in attorney’s fees, consisting of 28.05 hours of attorney time at the hourly rate of
$180. The Commissioner objects to some of counsel’s time entries, arguing that
they are either excessive or represent non-compensable time spent on clerical
work. (Docket entry #16). The disputed entries are addressed below:
• 03-08-12 Reviewed CM/ECF online Complaint & IFP Motion
[0.50 hours]

This entry is redundant and excessive because Plaintiff’s counsel
billed for 3.5 hours of time, on March 7, 2012, for preparation of the
Complaint and summons. The Court deducts the entirety of this .50 entry.
• 03-14-12 Reviewed Consent to Proceed before Magistrate
Prepared and returned same to the Court [0.50 hours]
• 03-20-12 Reviewed order granting Plaintiff’s Motion to Proceed
in Forma Pauperis, and Summons were issued and forwarded to
us for Service [0.50 hours]
• 03-22-12 Received Summons and prepared for service to The
Attorney General, U.S. Attorney, and the Office of the Regional
Chief Counsel and delivery To US Post Office for certified mailing
[1.00 hour]
Two hours of attorney time for the preparation and review of the consent
form, summonses, and in forma pauperis documentation is excessive and largely
clerical. See Ashworth v. Astrue, 2012 WL 1365171 (W.D. Ark. 2012) (clerical
tasks are not compensable under the EAJA). The Court reduces these entries to a
total of .25 hours of compensable time.
• 05-29-12 Reviewed Notice of Appearance by U.S. Attorney on
behalf of the SSA [0.15 hours]
• 05-29-12 Reviewed Notice By SSA of Conventional Filing of
Administrative Transcript [0.15 hours]
• 05-30-12 Reviewed Scheduling Order from the Court and
documented calendar accordingly with proper ticklers [0.50
hours]

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An hour of attorney time to review standard form notices is excessive, and
calendaring is not compensable. See Turner v. Astrue, 2009 WL 773001 (W.D.
Ark. Mar. 18, 2009) (calendaring and other work that could have been completed
by support staff is not compensable under the EAJA) (citing Granville House, Inc.
v. Department, 813 F.2d 881, 884 (8th Cir. 1987)). The Court reduces these entries
to a total of .2 hours of compensable time.
• 05-29-12 Received and reviewed the Answer to Complaint and
received and reviewed and printed the transcript of the complete
administrative record [2.00 hours]
Two hours billed for time including review of the Commissioner’s Answer
and the “printing” of the administrative transcript is excessive and partly clerical.
The Court reduces this entry to 1 hour of compensable time.
• 06-19-12 Filed Plaintiff’s Brief and letter to Client Stating Brief
was filed [0.50 hours]
The act of filing is clerical and therefore not compensable. This entry is
reduced to .1 hours of compensable time.
• 04-26-12 Telephone call from Client – wanted status [0.75 hours]
• 08-14-12 Telephone Call from Client wanting Status [0.75 hours]
• 09-21-12 Telephone Call from Client wanting Status [0.50 hours]
• 10-30-12 Telephone conference with Client discussing and
explaining the Order from the Court [0.75 hours]

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2.75 hours of “status” telephone calls with a client in a social security case is
excessive. The Court reduces these entries to a total of .5 hours of compensable
time.
• 11-13-12 Prepared EAJA pleadings [2.00 hours]
Plaintiff’s counsel’s EAJA papers are largely boilerplate and appear to be
copied from pleadings used in other cases. The Court reduces this entry to 1 hour
of compensable time.
The Court concludes that Plaintiff’s counsel is entitled to compensation for
20.75 hours of attorney time, which constitutes a reasonable award under the
EAJA.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Motion for Attorney’s Fees
Pursuant to the EAJA (docket entry #14) is GRANTED, IN PART. IT IS
FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff is awarded $3,735.00 in attorney’s fees under
the EAJA.
Dated this 2nd day of April, 2013.

____________________________________
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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