Tucker v. Colvin

Filing 23

MEMORANDUM ORDER re 17 MOTION for Attorney Fees Pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act filed by Fyresta G. Tucker is GRANTED. Signed by Judge Leonard P. Stark on 10/16/17. (ntl)

IN THE UNI'~ED STATES DISTRICT C_OURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE
.FYRESTAG. TUCKER,
· Plaintiff,

v.

Civ. No. 13-1246-LPS

NANCY A. BERRYHILL, 1
Acting Commissioner of Social Security,
.Defendant.

MEMORANDUM ORDER
At Wilmington this 16th day of October, 2017:
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Having reviewed the parties' .briefing

regardi~g Plaintiffs motion for attorney fees (D.I.
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17), IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiffs motion is GRANTED. The Commissioner does
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. not contest Plaintiffs entitlement to fees, nor Plaintiffs attorneys' hourly fee, nor the request for
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$400 costs; the only dispute is· as to the number of hqurs Plaintiffs attorneys devoted to their
· successful representation of Plaintiff. Plaintiff requdsts fees be awarded for 42 hours, while the
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government insists "42 compensable hours is unreasonable and should be reduced to 27." (D.I.
18 at 3) The Court's view is that Plaintiffs attorney~ -who are highly experienced in this field,
who wrote. 27 pages of merits briefing, and who volJntarily reduced the mnµber of hours for
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which they are seeking reimbursement - have provided persuasive reasons for the amount of time
they put into what they reasonably characterize as a ~elatively fact-specific appeal. It is
appropriate to award Plaintiff the requested hourly rJte ($189) for all hours (42) requested, as
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N ancy A. Berryhill is now the Acting ComJissioner of Social Security. Ptirsuant to
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 25(d), Nancy A. Berryhill is substituted for former
Commissioner Carolyn W. ·Colvin as defendant in thjs suit.

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well as for the additional 1.4 hours required to research and prepare the reply briefin support of
the motion (see D.l. 21 at 1 n.1). The parties appear to agreethat payment must be made directly
to Plaintiff, to allow for any required offset, and may be made to Plaintiffs attorneys if no offset
is required and Plaintiff submits a valid assignment. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the
parties shall meet and confer and, no later than October 18, submit a proposed order with the
final dollar figure, consistent with the instant order.

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HONORABLE LEONARD P. STARK
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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