Loza v. Commissioner of Social Security
Filing
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ORDER GRANTING IN PART 22 Plaintiff's Motion for Attorney Fees Pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act, signed by Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on 3/26/2019. (Hall, S)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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RUTHANN LOZA,
Plaintiff,
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v.
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NANCY A. BERRYHILL,
Acting Commissioner of Social Security,
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Defendant.
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Case No.: 1:17-cv-00598 - JLT
ORDER GRANTING IN PART PLAINTIFF’S
MOTION FOR ATTORNEY’S FEES PURSUANT
TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 28
U.S.C. § 2412
(Doc. 22)
Stuart Barasch, attorney for Plaintiff Ruthann Loza, seeks an award for fees pursuant to the
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Equal Access for Justice Act under 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). (Doc. 22) The Commissioner of Social
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Security does not oppose the motion. (Doc. 24)
Because the Administrative Law Judge’s decision was contrary to established standards set
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forth by the Regulations and the Ninth Circuit, the decision and the Commissioner’s defense thereof,
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was not substantially justified. For the reasons set forth, Plaintiff’s motion for attorney fees under the
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EAJA is GRANTED in the modified amount of $5,472.58.
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I.
Background
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In 2013, Plaintiff filed applications for a period of disability, disability insurance benefits, and
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supplemental security income under Titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act. (Doc. 10-6 at 2, 5)
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The Social Security Administration denied Plaintiff’s applications for benefits at the initial level and
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upon reconsideration. (See generally Doc. 10-4) Plaintiff requested an administrative hearing and she
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testified before an ALJ on October 27, 2015. (Doc. 10-3 at 22, 39) The ALJ concluded Plaintiff was not
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disabled and issued an order denying benefits on December 21, 2015. (Id. at 22-32) The Appeals
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Council denied Plaintiff’s request for review of the decision on February 27, 2017 (id. at 2-4), and the
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ALJ’s determination became the final decision of the Commissioner.
Plaintiff initiated the action before this Court on April 28, 2017, seeking judicial review of the
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ALJ’s decision. (Doc. 1) The Court determined the ALJ erred in evaluating the medical record and
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assessing Plaintiff’s physical residual functional capacity. (Doc. 20 at 1-10) The Court remanded the
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matter or further proceedings pursuant to sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) on September 10, 2018.
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(Id. at 10-11)
Following the entry of judgment (Doc. 21), Plaintiff filed the motion for fees under the EAJA
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now pending before the Court. (Doc. 22) The Commissioner filed a statement of non-opposition to the
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motion on December 21, 2018. (Doc. 24)
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II.
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Legal Standards for EAJA Fees
The EAJA provides that a court shall award fees and costs incurred by a prevailing party “in any
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civil action . . . including proceedings for judicial review of agency action, brought by or against the
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United States . . . unless the court finds that the position of the United States was substantially justified
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or that special circumstances make an award unjust.” 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(1)(A). A party eligible to
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receive an award of attorney fees under the EAJA must be the prevailing party who received a final
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judgment in the civil action. 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(2)(H).
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The party seeking the award of EAJA fees has the burden of proof that fees requested are
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reasonable. See Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 434, 437 (1983); see also Atkins v. Apfel, 154 F.3d
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988 (9th Cir. 1998) (specifically applying these principles to fee requests under the EAJA). As a result,
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“[t]he fee applicant bears the burden of documenting the appropriate hours expended in the litigation,
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and must submit evidence in support of those hours worked.” Gates v. Deukmejian, 987 F.2d 1392,
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1397 (9th Cir. 1992); see also 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(1)(B) (“A party seeking an award of fees and other
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expenses shall . . . submit to the court an application for fees and other expenses which shows . . . the
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amount sought, including an itemized statement from any attorney . . . stating the actual time
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expended”).
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Where documentation of the expended time is inadequate, the court may reduce the requested
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award. Hensley, 461 U.S. at 433, 436-47. Further, “hours that were not ‘reasonably expended” should
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be excluded from an award, including “hours that are excessive, redundant, or otherwise unnecessary.”
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Id. at 434. A determination of the number of hours reasonably expended is within the Court’s
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discretion. Cunningham v. County of Los Angeles, 879 F.2d 481, 484-85 (9th Cir. 1988).
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III.
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Discussion and Analysis
A claimant who receives a sentence four remand in a Social Security case is a prevailing party
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for EAJA purposes. Shalala v. Schaefer, 509 U.S. 292, 301-02 (1993); Flores v. Shalala, 49 F.3d 562,
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568 (9th Cir. 1995). Consequently, Plaintiff was the prevailing party. (Doc. 22)
Whether Defendant’s position was substantially justified
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A.
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The Supreme Court has defined “substantially justified” as “justified to a degree that could
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satisfy a reasonable person.” Pierce v. Underwood, 487 U.S. 552, 565 (1988). In addition, “[a]
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substantially justified position must have a reasonable basis in both law and fact.” Gutierrez v.
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Barnhart, 274 F.3d 1255, 1258 (9th Cir. 2001).
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Establishing that a position was substantially justified is a two-step process. 28 U.S.C. §
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2412(d)(2)(D). First, “the action or failure to act by the agency” must be substantially justified. Id.
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Second, the Commissioner’s position taken in the civil action was substantially justified. Id. The
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inquiry into whether the government had a substantial justification must be found on both inquiries.
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Kali v. Bowen, 854 F.2d 329, 332 (9th Cir. 1998). Thus, both the ALJ’s decision and the
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Commissioner’s arguments to this Court in defense of the administrative decision must have been
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substantially justified. To find that a position was substantially justified when based on violations of
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the Constitution, federal statute, or the agency’s own regulations, is an abuse of discretion. Sampson v.
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Chater, 103 F.3d 918, 921 (9th Cir. 1996).
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The burden of proof that the position was substantially justified rests on the government.
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Scarborough v. Principi, 54 U.S. 401, 403 (2004); Gonzales v. Free Speech Coalition, 408 F.3d 613,
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618 (9th Cir. 2005). However, the Commissioner not made any effort to demonstrate either the ALJ’s
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decision or the Commissioner’s defense of the position was substantially justified, and does not oppose
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the fee request.
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The Court remanded Plaintiff’s case because the residual functional capacity identified by the
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ALJ lacked the support of substantial evidence in the record. The Court found “no evidentiary support”
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for the restriction to light work or specific postural limitations identified by the ALJ. (Doc. 20 at 10)
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When an ALJ’s decision is not supported by substantial evidence, the Ninth Circuit determined that it
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followed “the government’s underlying action was not substantially justified.” Meier v. Colvin, 727
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F.3d 867, 872 (9th Cir. 2013). As in Meier, the government’s position in defending the ALJ’s flawed
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opinion was not substantially justified.
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B.
Reasonableness of the Fees Requested
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The Ninth Circuit determined courts may not apply de facto caps limiting the number of hours
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attorneys can reasonably expend on “routine” social security cases. See Costa v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec.
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Admin., 690 F.3d 1132, 1133-37 (9th Cir. 2012) (“we question the usefulness of reviewing the amount
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of time spent in other cases to decide how much time an attorney could reasonably spend on the
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particular case before the court”). Instead, “courts should generally defer to the ‘winning lawyer’s
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professional judgment as to how much time he was required to spend on the case.’” Id. at 1136, quoting
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Moreno v. City of Sacramento, 534 F.3d 1106, 1112 (9th Cir. 2008). Nevertheless, the Court has an
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independent duty to review the evidence of hours worked and tasks undertaken to determine the
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reasonableness of the fees requested for the case. Hensley, 461 U.S. at 433, 436-47.
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Mr. Barasch reports that several attorneys with Olinsky Law Group worked on this action,
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including Mr. Barasch, Howard Olinsky, Melissa Palmer, Amanda Haasz, and Edward Wicklund.
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(Doc. 22-1 at 3) Tasks completed by the attorneys and professional staff with Olinsky Law Group
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include reviewing the ALJ’s decision and the administrative record that was approximately 700 pages
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long; drafting Plaintiff’s confidential letter brief, opening brief, and reply brief; and preparing the
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request for EAJA fees now pending before the Court. (See Doc. 22-3 at 2-3) According to Mr.
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Barasch, he and the other attorneys expended 27.7 hours on work related to Plaintiff’s appeal, including
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23.1 hours in 2017 and 4.6 hours in 2018. (Id. at 2) Timesheets indicate nine paralegals with the firm
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expended 8.7 hours between 2017 and 2018 on Plaintiff’s appeal. (Doc. 22-4 at 2)
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Duplicated tasks
The time sheets provided by counsel indicate several duplicated tasks due to the number of
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individuals who worked on the action. For example, after Amanda Haasz drafted Plaintiff’s
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confidential letter brief, the document was reviewed and approved by Edward Wicklund, who did not
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indicate any editing was required yet billed 0.2 hours for his review and approval. (See Doc. 22-2 at 2)
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Oscar Gomez also indicated that he spent 0.2 reviewing the same letter brief, which he “finalize[d]”
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and forwarded to Defendant’s counsel. (Id.) Given the duplicative nature of the tasks performed by
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Mr. Wicklund and Mr. Gomez after the document was drafted by Ms. Haasz, the Court will deduct 0.2
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hours of attorney time and 0.2 hours of paralegal time. See Gibson v. City of Chicago, 873 F.Supp.2d
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975, 987 (N.D. Ill. 2012) (eliminating time entries for duplicative tasks).
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The timesheets also indicate duplicated reviews of the opening brief and reply brief. Howard
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Olinksy indicated that he spent over eight hours drafting the opening brief. (Doc. 22-2 at 2) Mr.
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Wicklund billed 0.7 hours for reviewing the document making “minimal edits,” and forwarding the
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document to co-counsel. (Id. at 3) In turn, Mr. Barasch gave the document a second review, for which
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he billed 0.4 hours. (Id.) There is no explanation why a document prepared by senior counsel at the
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law firm required two other attorneys to review it prior to its filing. Likewise, after the reply brief was
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drafted by Melissa Palmer, Mr. Wickland and Mr. Barasch both reviewed the document, for which
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they billed a total of 0.4 hours. Thus, the Court will deduct 1.5 hour of attorney time from the fee
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award for the duplicative nature of the document review. See Gibson, 873 F.Supp.2d at 987.
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2.
Clerical tasks
The Supreme Court determined that “purely clerical work or secretarial tasks should not be
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billed at a paralegal or lawyer’s rate, regardless of who performs them.” Missouri v. Jenkins, 491 U.S.
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274, 288 n. 10 (1989). For example, the time spent to e-file documents is routinely found to be clerical
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work that is non-compensable. See L.H. v. Schwarzenegger, 645 F. Supp. 2d 888, 899 (E.D. Cal. 2009)
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(finding organizing and updating files was clerical, and declining to award fees where the applicant
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“tendered no evidence that these are tasks that required the skill of a paralegal”) In addition, courts in
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the Ninth Circuit have determined drafting and preparing documents related to service of process are
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clerical tasks and reduced the number of hours awarded as fees accordingly. See, e.g., Kirk v. Berryhill
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244 F. Supp. 3d 1077, 1084 (E.D. Cal. 2017) (“drafting letters and preparing documents related to
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representation and service of process …. could have been completed by experienced support staff”);
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Bailey v. Colvin, 2013 WL 6887158, at *4 (D. Or. Dec. 31, 2013) (denying fees for “service of process”
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because “the Court may not award fees for clerical work even when the work is performed by
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attorneys”). Because the timesheets submitted by Plaintiff include 0.6 hours for service of process by
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Michelle Callahan, this time will be deducted from the fee award due to its clerical nature.
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Block-billing and overbilling
The time entries are presented in a “block” format, which bundles tasks in a block of time and
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“makes it more difficult to determine how much time was spent on particular activities.” Welch v.
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Metro. Life Ins., 480 F.3d 942, 948 (9th Cir. 2007) Accordingly, the Ninth Circuit explained that,
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where the attorney presents time expended in “blocks,” the Court may “simply reduce[] the fee to a
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reasonable amount.” Fischer v. SJB-P.D. Inc., 214 F.3d 1115, 1121 (9th Cir. 2000); see also Welch,
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480 F.3d at 948 (“We do not quarrel with the district court's authority to reduce hours that are billed in
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block format”). This is particularly troublesome where, as here, entries include both compensable and
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clerical tasks. For example, entries from Mr. Gomez indicate time to “[f]inalize and file proof of
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service” of a document on May 12, 2017 and his review, finalizing, and filing of the EAJA motion
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now before the Court. (Doc. 22-4 at 2)
Further, the Court’s review of the time sheets provided causes serious concerns regarding
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overbilling for many tasks. For example1, the Court cannot find it was reasonable for Mr. Olinski to
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bill .1 hours to review the Court’s order regarding random assignment of the magistrate judge, when
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the order includes only three sentences. (See Doc. 5-1 at 1) Mr. Barasch indicated it took 0.2 hours to
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review and execute the magistrate judge consent form, which is a simple, single page document. (See
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Doc 6). It is unreasonable to report that it took 12 minutes to complete the form, or six minutes to
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review the Court’s check-box form completed by defendant (see Doc. 9).
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Given the block billing and overbilling that occurred, the Court exercises its discretion to reduce
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the remaining reported time by 10 percent. See Moreno, 534 F.3d at 1112 (a district court may “impose
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a small reduction, no greater than 10 percent—a ‘haircut’—based on its exercise of discretion”).
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There are other examples but the Court declines to expend its limited resources to identify each one.
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Hourly rates
Plaintiff requests “an hourly rate of $196.79 for attorney time in 2017 and an hourly rate of
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$200.78 for attorney time in 2018” and $125.00 for paralegal time. (Doc. 22-1 at 2) Defendant does
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not object to these rates. (See Doc. 23 at 4) Notably, the attorney hourly rates are consistent with the
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statutory maximum set by the Ninth Circuit in 2017 and 2018, and the requested paralegal rate is
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within the range of accepted rates in the Fresno Division of the Eastern District of California. See
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“Statutory Maximum Rates Under the Equal Access to Justice Act,” available at
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http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/content/view.php?pk_id=0000000039 (last visited March 26, 2019); see
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also Silvester v. Harris, 2014 WL 7239371 at *4 (E.D. Cal. Dec. 2014) (“The current reasonable
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hourly rate for paralegal work in the Fresno Division ranges from $75 to $150, depending on
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experience”). Consequently, the Court finds the hourly rates requested are reasonable.
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Amount to be awarded
With the deductions set forth above, attorneys with Olinsky Law Group expended a total of
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23.22 hours on compensable work in this action on behalf of Plaintiff, which includes 19.62 hours in
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2017 and 3.6 hours in 2018. The paralegals expended a total of 7.11 compensable hours this action.
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The Court finds the total of 30.33 hours to be reasonable in light of the tasks performed by counsel and
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the professional staff, and the results achieved. Accordingly, Plaintiff is entitled to an award of
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$5,472.58.2
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C.
Expenses
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Plaintiff seeks “the amount of $17.67 for reimbursement of the service of process expenses.”
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(Doc. 22-1 at 3) Significantly, however, the Court granted Plaintiff’s request to proceed in forma
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pauperis in this action and directed the U.S. Marshal “serve a copy of the complaint, summons, and
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this order upon the defendant.” (Doc. 3 at 4) When a plaintiff proceeds in forma pauperis and the
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U.S. Marshal has been directed to complete service, the plaintiff may not recover expenses related to
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service. DeArmon v. Colvin, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 137858 at *5 (E.D. Cal. Sept. 25, 2013).
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Accordingly, Plaintiff’s request for expenses is DENIED.
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This amount includes $3,861.02 for the work completed by counsel in 2017; $722.81 for the work completed by
counsel in 2018; and $888.75 for the work completed by the paralegals.
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D.
Assignment of the Fee Award
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Plaintiff requests that the EAJA fee award be made payable to counsel, pursuant to a fee
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agreement she signed. (See Doc. 22-1 at 3) In Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586 (2010) the Supreme Court
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determined that EAJA fees must be made payable to the “prevailing party.” As a result, the payment is
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subject to a government offset to satisfy any pre-existing debt owed by a claimant. See id., 560 U.S. at
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592-93.
Notably, under the Anti-Assignment Act, a claim against “the United States may not be
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assigned to a third party unless [certain] technical requirements are met.” United States v. Kim, 806
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F.3d 1161, 1169 (9th Cir. 2015); 31 U.S.C. § 3727. “[I]n modern practice, the obsolete language of the
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Anti-Assignment Act means that the Government has the power to pick and choose which assignments
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it will accept and which it will not.” Kim, 806 F.3d at 1169-70. In addition, the Anti-Assignment Act
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“applies to an assignment of EAJA fees in a Social Security Appeal for disability benefits.” Yesipovich
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v. Colvin, 166 F.Supp.3d 1000, 1011 (N.D. Cal. 2015).
Because Plaintiff has assigned her rights to counsel, the EAJA fees should be made payable
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directly to Plaintiff’s counsel, subject to any government debt offset and the government’s waiver of
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the Anti-Assignment Act requirements. See Yesipovich, 166 F.Supp at 1011; see also Beal v. Colvin,
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2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 124272 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 13, 2016) (holding where there was “no information
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on whether plaintiff owes any debt to the government[,]… the EAJA fee shall be paid directly to
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plaintiff's counsel, subject to any administrative offset due to outstanding federal debt and subject to
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the government’s waiver of the requirements under the Anti-Assignment Act”). If the government
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chooses to not accept the assignment, payment shall be made to Plaintiff and mailed to her attorney.
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IV.
Conclusion and Order
As a prevailing party, Plaintiff is entitled to an award of attorney’s fees under the EAJA
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because the ALJ’s decision and the Commissioner’s position in defending it were not substantially
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justified. See 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(2)(H). With the deductions set forth above, Olinsky Law Group
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expended a total 30.33 hours on compensable work in this action, which is reasonable in light of the
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tasks performed on Plaintiff’s behalf and results achieved.
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Based upon the foregoing, the Court ORDERS:
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Plaintiff’s motion for attorney’s fees (Doc. 22) is GRANTED in part, in the modified
amount of $5,472.58;
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Plaintiff’s request for expenses is DENIED;
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Defendant SHALL determine whether Plaintiff’s EAJA attorney fees are subject to any
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offset and, if the fees are not subject to an offset, payment shall be made payable to
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Plaintiff. If the Government decides to accept the assignment of fees, payment shall be
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made payable to Counsel, Stuart Barasch; and
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Payment SHALL be mailed to Plaintiff’s counsel of record, Stuart Barasch.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated:
March 26, 2019
/s/ Jennifer L. Thurston
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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