Coleman v. Colvin

Filing 23

ORDER granting 21 Motion for Attorney Fees. Signed by Magistrate Judge S. Allan Alexander on 12/18/14. (kbt)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI
OXFORD DIVISION

JIMMY LEE COLEMAN
V.

PLAINTIFF
CIVIL ACTION NO. 3:14CV005-SAA

CAROLYN W. COLVIN,
ACTING COMMISSIONER OF
SOCIAL SECURITY

DEFENDANT

ORDER GRANTING PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY’S FEES
Plaintiff seeks an award of attorney fees of $5,733.00 paid under the Equal Access to
Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412. The requested award represents 29.4 hours of work at the rate of
$195.00 per hour for attorney time. Plaintiff’s attorney contends that his firm’s usual hourly rate
is $225.00 for attorney time.
Defendant does not oppose plaintiff’s request for compensation for 29.4 hours of work
performed by his attorney, but does oppose the request for compensation at the hourly rate of
$195.00 per hour. It is defendant’s contention that plaintiff’s EAJA rate of $190.00 is not
reasonable, and requests instead that the court use the “South urban” area CPI numbers and the
“Annual” or HALF1" numbers, as applicable. Further, defendant asserts that under Astrue v.
Ratliff, 130 S.Ct. 2521 (2010) the fees must be made payable to the plaintiff.
The awarding of EAJA fees and the method used to calculate those fees has recently been
addressed by this court in Fowler v. Colvin, Civil Case No. 4:14cv039-JMV. In accordance
with that ruling, and to assure uniformity among counsel who represent Social Security
claimants in this district, it is
ORDERED

that the defendant pay the plaintiff $5,546.31 in attorney’s fees, representing 2.5 hours of
work performed in 2013 at the rate of $185.96 per hour and 26.9 hours of work in 2014 at the
rate of $188.90. Defendant will mail the award to plaintiff’s attorney.
This, the 18th day of December, 2014.
/s/ S. Allan Alexander
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE