Hunt v. Colvin

Filing 33

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER. (see order for details) IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff's motion for attorney's fees [# 30 ] is GRANTED, and defendant shall pay plaintiff $4,030.15 in attorney's fees. Defendant will verify whether plaintiff has a preexisting debt to the United States, and if not, will make the fee award payable to plaintiff's counsel. Signed by District Judge Catherine D. Perry on 11/25/2014. (CBL)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
NORTHERN DIVISION
DAVID L. HUNT,
Plaintiff,
v.
CAROLYN W. COLVIN,
Acting Commissioner of Social Security,
Defendant.

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No. 2:13CV42 CDP

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
Plaintiff David Hunt filed this case on May 23, 2013, appealing the denial of
his application for Supplemental Security Income. I reversed and remanded the
case for further proceedings pursuant to sentence four of 42 U.S.C. ' 405(g) on
August 18, 2014.
Plaintiff now seeks attorney=s fees in the amount of $4,030.15, pursuant to
the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. ' 2412. Defendant has no objection to
the payment of the amount requested. Because plaintiff prevailed and is not
otherwise precluded from recovering attorney=s fees and costs, I find that plaintiff
is entitled to an award in the amount requested.
Plaintiff has assigned his right to EAJA fees to his attorney (Doc. 30-3), and
therefore requests that they be paid to counsel. However, under Astrue v. Ratliff,

130 S. Ct. 2521, 2524 (2010), fees should be made payable to a plaintiff, not his
attorney, so that they may be used to offset any preexisting debt plaintiff may have
to the United States. In response to plaintiff’s request, Social Security Acting
Commissioner Colvin states that she will first verify whether plaintiff has a debt to
be satisfied, and if not, will make the award payable to plaintiff’s attorney.
Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff=s motion for attorney=s fees [#30]
is GRANTED, and defendant shall pay plaintiff $4,030.15 in attorney=s fees.
Defendant will verify whether plaintiff has a preexisting debt to the United States,
and if not, will make the fee award payable to plaintiff’s counsel.

___________________________________
CATHERINE D. PERRY
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Dated this 25th day of November, 2014.

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