Onyegbule v. Commissioner of Social Security

Filing 26

ORDER granting 24 Motion for Attorney Fees filed by Jill Estelle Onyegbule in the agreed upon amount of $5,800.00. Signed by Senior Judge Donald E OBrien on 6/12/14. (djs)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF IOWA
WESTERN DIVISION
JILL ESTELLE ONYEGBULE,
Plaintiff,

No. 13-CV-4013-DEO

vs.

ORDER

COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL
SECURITY, Carolyn W. Colvin,
Defendant.
____________________
This matter is before the Court pursuant to Plaintiff’s
“Motion For Award Of Attorney’s Fees Pursuant To The Equal
Access To Justice Act 28 U.S.C. §2412” (Docket No. 24),
requesting attorney fees in the amount of $6,002.50.

The

Defendant has filed, “Defendant’s Response To Plaintiff’s
Application For Attorney Fees Pursuant To The Equal Access To
Justice Act” (Docket No. 25), stating that the defendant and
plaintiff reached a settlement for an EAJA fee payment of
$5,800.00.
Social

This amount shall be paid to the Plaintiff by the

Security

Administration

and

mailed

to

Plaintiff’s

attorney.
28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) of the EAJA provides for the award of
fees and expenses if:

(1) the party requesting the fees

prevailed; (2) the position of the United States was not

“substantially justified;” (3) the fees were incurred by the
moving party in a “civil action . . . including proceedings
for judicial review of agency action;” (4) the action was
brought

by

or

against

the

United

States;

(5)

the

court

entering the ruling had “jurisdiction of that action;” (6) the
party seeking fees submitted an application 30 days after
final judgment, specifying the “amount sought, including an
itemized statement . . . stating the actual time expended and
the rate at which fees and other expenses were computed;” (7)
the amount sought is reasonable under the circumstances; and
(8) there are no “special circumstances” making “an award
unjust.”

(citation omitted).

In this case, Plaintiff has satisfied each necessary
element.

Plaintiff prevailed in a civil action against the

Commissioner of Social Security (Docket No. 22).

This Court

properly exercised jurisdiction pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§
405(g) and 1383(c)(3). The Commissioner was not substantially
justified in that the overwhelming weight of the evidence
supported

the

conclusion

that

an

award

of

benefits

was

appropriate. Plaintiff’s request for attorney’s fees included
an itemized statement of the actual time expended (Docket No.

2

24-3).

Neither the Commissioner nor this Court consider the

amount sought to be unreasonable under the circumstances.
And,

finally,

this

Court

is

unaware

of

any

1

special

circumstances which would render the award unjust.
Therefore, as agreed to by the parties, attorneys fees
under EAJA is granted in the agreed upon amount of $5,800.00,
payable

to

the

plaintiff

from

the

Social

Security

Administration, and mailed to plaintiff’s attorney’s address
after any offset.

2

IT IS SO ORDERED this 12th day of June, 2014.

__________________________________
Donald E. O’Brien, Senior Judge
United States District Court
Northern District of Iowa

1

28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(2)(A) provides that “attorney fees
shall not be awarded in excess of $125 per hour unless the
court determines that an increase in the cost of living . . .
justifies a higher fee.” (citation omitted). In this case,
the Court has reviewed the Itemization of Fees provided by
Attorney Forker regarding the charged rate in this case
(Docket No. 24-3).
2

The parties agreed to a fee amount which is subject to
offset as out in Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586 (2010).
Docket No. 25.
3