Dalton v. Colvin

Filing 20

ORDER granting 17 Motion for Attorney Fees. Signed by Magistrate Judge Roy Percy on 8/21/17. (bnd)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI
ABERDEEN DIVISION
CHINA NICOLE DALTON

PLAINTIFF

vs.

CIVIL ACTION NO. 1:16CV161-RP

COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY

DEFENDANT

ORDER GRANTING PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY’S FEES
Plaintiff filed a motion initially seeking an award of attorney’s fees of $6,138.00 paid
under the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. Section 2412 and an award of $400.00 in
litigation expenses. Docket 17. Defendant objected to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) used by
plaintiff to calculate the hourly rate for attorney’s fees and to the reimbursement for travel time
to and from the hearing. Docket 18. Plaintiff filed a reply brief conceding the hourly rate of
$190.86 per hour for 2016 and $193.92 per hour for 2017. Docket 19. However, plaintiff still
seeks full reimbursement for travel time to and from the hearing. Id.
Having reviewed the motion and briefs of both parties, the court finds that all time
submitted by plaintiff, including travel time to and from the hearing, should be included in the
award of attorney’s fees. There is no dispute that plaintiff’s counsel was required to travel to and
attend the hearing set by the court. Further, this court finds that because plaintiff’s counsel was
very conservative in his billing of the travel time, an award for the entire amount of travel time is
only fair. Therefore, it is
ORDERED
that the defendant pay the plaintiff $5,941.91 in attorney’s fees (22.75 hours x $190.86 plus

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8.25 hours x $193.92) and $400.00 in litigation expenses and mail the award to plaintiff’s attorney.
This, the 21st day of August, 2017.
/s/ Roy Percy
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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