Aden v. Astrue

Filing 35

ORDER granting in part and denying in part 25 Motion for Attorney Fees (Written Opinion). Signed by The Hon. Paul A. Magnuson on 09/29/2014. (LLM)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA
Roda Aden, on behalf of H.A.,
a minor,

Civ. No. 12-1782 (PAM/AJB)

Plaintiff,
v.

ORDER

Carolyn W. Colvin, Acting
Commissioner of Social Security,
Defendant.

This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff’s Motion for Attorney’s Fees under the
Equal Access to Justice Act. The Government has no objection to the Motion.
Plaintiff requests that the fee award be paid directly to her attorney and has submitted
an affidavit stating that she has assigned her right to the fees to her attorney. (Docket No.
34.) But the decision Plaintiff cites as authority for her request that the fees be paid to her
attorney, Ratliff v. Astrue, 540 F.3d 800 (8th Cir. 2008), was subsequently reversed by the
United States Supreme Court. Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 593 (2010). As the Supreme
Court determined, the EAJA requires the fee be paid to the “prevailing party,” which “is a
term of art that refers to the prevailing litigant.” Id. Thus, the Supreme Court made clear
that fees awarded under the EAJA must be paid directly to the prevailing litigant and not to
the litigant’s attorney. Id. (“The fact that the statute awards to the prevailing party fees in
which her attorney may have a beneficial interest or a contractual right does not establish that
the statute ‘awards’ the fees directly to the attorney.”).

The Court may not order the fees to be paid directly to Plaintiff’s attorney. Plaintiff
has, however, established that she is entitled to the fees she requests.
Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
1.

Plaintiff’s Motion for Attorney Fees (Docket No. 25) is GRANTED in part
and DENIED in part;

2.

Plaintiff is awarded $5,207.75 in attorney’s fees; and

3.

Defendant shall pay the fee award directly to Plaintiff.

Dated: September 29, 2014

s/ Paul A. Magnuson
Paul A. Magnuson
United States District Court Judge

2