DiChiro v. Colvin

Filing 35

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER: IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff's Motion for Attorney's Fees 33 is GRANTED, in the amount of $3,281.76. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that said award shall be paid by the Social Security Administration to Plaintiff's attorney, based on the assignment, subject to any pre-existing debtthat the litigant may owe to the United States. Signed by Magistrate Judge John M. Bodenhausen on 9/27/2017. (CAR)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
EASTERN DIVISION
BRENDA J. DICHIRO,
Plaintiff,
v.
NANCY A. BERRYHILL,1
Acting Commissioner of Social Security,
Defendant.

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No. 4:16 CV 431 JMB

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff’s Application for Attorney Fees under the
Equal Access to Justice Act (“EAJA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). (ECF No. 33) Defendant has filed
a Response to Plaintiff’s Application. (ECF No. 34) In her motion, Plaintiff seeks $3,281.76 in
fees, based upon 15.75 hours of work at $194.08 per hour by the attorney and 2.5 hours of work
at $90 per hour by legal assistants. Defendant agrees with this calculation.
Under the EAJA, in civil actions brought by or against the United States, a court shall
award attorney’s fees to a prevailing party unless the position of the United States was
substantially justified. 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(1)(A). In Social Security cases, a sentence four
remand of the Commissioner’s denial of benefits is sufficient to confer prevailing party status.
Shalala v. Shaefer, 509 U.S. 292, 302 (1993).
This Court entered judgment reversing the Commissioner’s decision and remanding the
matter to the Administrative Law Judge on June 28, 2017, thereby making Plaintiff the
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Nancy A. Berryhill is now the Acting Commissioner of Social Security, and pursuant to
Fed. R. Civ. P. 25(d) Civil Procedure is substituted as the defendant in this suit. No further
action needs to be taken to continue this suit by reason of the last sentence of section 205(g) of
the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 405(g).

prevailing party. (ECF No. 32). Additionally, Plaintiff submitted a detailed accounting of the
time spent on this case, and the reasons for the fees incurred. (ECF No. 33-2) The Court finds
that the number of hours worked, the hourly rate, and the total fee payable in this case is
reasonable, and in accordance with the EAJA. The Court also notes that Plaintiff executed a fee
agreement assigning any EAJA fee to her attorney. (ECF No. 33-3)
Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Motion for Attorney’s Fees (ECF No. 33) is
GRANTED, in the amount of $3,281.76.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that said award shall be paid by the Social Security
Administration to Plaintiff’s attorney, based on the assignment, subject to any pre-existing debt
that the litigant may owe to the United States.
/s/ John M. Bodenhausen
JOHN M. BODENHAUSEN
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Dated this 27th day of September, 2017.

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