Trussell v. Commissioner of Social Security
Filing
27
ORDER granting 26 Plaintiff's Unopposed Motion for Award of Attorney Fees Pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act. Signed by Magistrate Judge Julie S. Sneed on 9/6/2017. (LBL)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TAMPA DIVISION
STEPHANIE D. TRUSSELL,
Plaintiff,
v.
Case No: 8:16-cv-1048-T-24JSS
COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL
SECURITY,
Defendant.
___________________________________/
ORDER
THIS MATTER is before the Court on Plaintiff’s Unopposed Motion for Award of
Attorney Fees Pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act (“Motion”). (Dkt. 26). Defendant does
not oppose the relief requested by Plaintiff. (Dkt. 26 at 2.) For the reasons that follow, the Motion
is granted.
BACKGROUND
On April 28, 2016, Plaintiff filed a Complaint seeking review of the denial of her claim for
Social Security benefits by the Commissioner of Social Security. (Dkt. 1.) The Court entered an
Order reversing the Commissioner’s decision and remanding the matter for further administrative
proceedings under sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). (Dkt. 24.) Judgement was entered in
Plaintiff’s favor and the case was closed on May 17, 2017. (Dkt. 25.) Consequently, Plaintiff filed
the Motion on August 14, 2017, as the prevailing party in this action. (Dkt. 26.) In her Motion,
Plaintiff seeks attorney’s fees for 27.2 hours of work performed in 2016 and 2017 by attorney Shea
A. Fugate. (Dkt. 26.)
APPLICABLE STANDARDS
Following entry of a favorable judgment in a Social Security case, a prevailing party may
obtain attorney’s fees under the EAJA. 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(1)(A); Monroe v. Comm’r of Soc.
Sec. Admin., 569 Fed. App’x 833, 834 (11th Cir. 2014). The EAJA requires the court to award
attorney’s fees to a party who prevails against the United States in litigation unless the court finds
that the government’s position in the litigation was “substantially justified” or that special
circumstances make such an award unjust. 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d); Jackson v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec.,
601 F.3d 1268, 1271 (11th Cir. 2010).
A party may recover an award of attorney’s fees under the EAJA if the following
prerequisites are met: (1) the party seeking the award is the prevailing party; (2) the application
for such fees, including an itemized justification for the amount sought, is timely filed (i.e., filed
within thirty days of final judgment in the action); (3) the claimant had a net worth of less than $2
million at the time the complaint was filed; (4) the position of the government was not substantially
justified; and (5) no special circumstances exist that would make an award unjust. 28 U.S.C. §
2412(d). A party who obtains a fourth sentence remand in a Social Security case is considered a
prevailing party under the EAJA. Shalala v. Schaefer, 509 U.S. 292, 302 (1993). To be
“substantially justified” under the EAJA, the government’s position must be “justified to a degree
that could satisfy a reasonable person,” which requires that the government’s position have a
reasonable basis in both law and fact. Monroe, 569 Fed. App’x at 834 (internal quotation and
citation omitted).
ANALYSIS
Upon consideration of the Motion and the applicable law, the Court finds that Plaintiff is
entitled to an award of attorney’s fees in this case. First, Plaintiff is the prevailing party in this
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case after having obtained a sentence-four remand. Schaefer, 509 U.S. at 296–97, 302. Second,
Plaintiff’s Motion, which was filed on August 14, 2017, was timely filed within thirty days of the
final judgment of this action. This case was remanded upon order of this Court and judgment was
entered in Plaintiff’s favor on May 17, 2017. (Dkts. 24, 25.) Pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate
Procedure 4(a)(1)(B), either party has sixty days to file an appeal. Therefore, the judgment became
final on July 16, 2017, and the Motion was filed prior to the expiration of the thirty-day deadline.
See Jones v. Colvin, No. 8:13-CV-2900-T-33AEP, 2015 WL 7721334, at *1 (M.D. Fla. Nov. 30,
2015). Additionally, the Commissioner does not dispute the timeliness of the Motion. Third, the
Motion asserts that Plaintiff is not excluded from eligibility for an award under the EAJA by any
of the exclusions set forth in the Act. Fourth, the Commissioner’s position was not substantially
justified in this case, and the Commissioner does not dispute this issue. Finally, the Court does
not find that any special circumstances exist to indicate that an award of attorney’s fees in this case
would be unjust.
In the Motion, Plaintiff requests that the hourly rate of the fees awarded be increased to
reflect the increase in the cost of living. Under the EAJA, the amount of attorney’s fees to be
awarded “shall be based upon prevailing market rates for the kind and quality of the services
furnished,” except that attorney’s fees shall not exceed $125 per hour unless the court determines
that an increase in the cost of living or a special factor justifies a higher fee. 28 U.S.C. §
2412(d)(2)(A). Plaintiff proposes an hourly rate of $192.62 for work performed by attorney Shea
Fugate in 2016 and 2017. (Dkts. 26-1, 26-4.) The Court finds that Plaintiff is entitled to the
requested rates, and the Commissioner does not oppose Plaintiff’s request. In total, Plaintiff seeks
$5,239.26 in fees for 27.2 hours of attorney time expended in litigating this case, which is
represented in Plaintiff’s itemization of the hours expended and the activities performed. (Dkt.
-3-
26-2.) The Commissioner does not oppose the fees requested. As such, the Court finds that 27.2
hours is reasonable and that $5,239.26 is a reasonable fee in this case.
Finally, Plaintiff requests that the fee award be paid directly to Plaintiff’s attorney.
Although EAJA fee awards belong to the party, not the party’s attorney, Reeves v. Astrue, 526
F.3d 732, 738 (11th Cir. 2008), such fees may be paid directly to a plaintiff’s attorney in cases in
which the plaintiff does not owe a debt to the government and assigns the right to such fees to the
attorney. Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 597 (2010). In this case, Plaintiff has assigned the EAJA
award to her attorney. (Dkt. 26-3.) Therefore, the award is payable directly to Plaintiff’s counsel
if Plaintiff is not indebted to the federal government; otherwise, the award is payable directly to
Plaintiff. Accordingly, it is
ORDERED:
1. Plaintiff’s Unopposed Motion for Award of Attorney Fees Pursuant to the Equal
Access to Justice Act (Dkt. 26) is GRANTED.
2. Plaintiff is awarded $5,239.26 in fees, payable directly to Plaintiff’s counsel if the
Commissioner determines that Plaintiff does not owe a debt to the government.
DONE and ORDERED in Tampa, Florida, on September 6, 2017.
Copies furnished to:
Counsel of Record
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