Casas v. Astrue

Filing 34

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER granting the Plaintiff's 30 Motion for Attorney Fees Fees awarded to Plaintiff. Payment in the amount of $3,600.43, minus any authorized deductions, shall be paid directly to attorney Stephen Speicher as set forth herein. Ordered by Chief Judge Joseph F. Bataillon. (MKR)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA
BENITA MAY CASAS
Plaintiff,
v.
MICHAEL J. ASTRUE, Commissioner
of the Social Security Administration
Defendant.

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4:09CV3244

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

This matter is before the court on plaintiff’s motion for payment of attorney fees
pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act (“EAJA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2412 and 42 U.S.C.
§ 406(b), of the Social Security Act (the “Act”). Filing No. 30. Plaintiff seeks EAJA attorney
fees in the amount of $2,916.68. Filing No. 30. In addition, plaintiff requests recovery for
paralegal and law clerk time based on 33.80 hours at the rate of $25.00 per hour for
paralegal 1 and 2, $15.00 for paralegal 3, and $20.00/$35.00 per hour for law clerk 1
(February 2010 at $20.00 and February 2011 at $35.00) in the amount of $683.75, for a
total of $3,600.43. Filing No. 30.
The defendant has no objection to the amount requested. Filing No. 33. Plaintiff
states that she does not have any outstanding debts with the United States and requests
that any EAJA fee she receives be made payable directly to her attorney.1 Therefore,
EAJA fees are payable to plaintiff, but are subject to offset to satisfy any pre-existing debt
that the litigant owes to the United States. See Astrue v. Ratliff, 130 S. Ct. 2521 (2010).

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“It is understood that if a fee is awarded based on the present Application, and that if paym ent of an
attorney’s fee by Plaintiff is authorized under 42 U.S.C. 406(b), and that if both fees are actually paid to and
received by Counsel for Plaintiff, the sm aller of the two fees will be refunded to Plaintiff.” Filing No. 30.

The court finds the plaintiff is entitled to an award pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g)
as a prevailing party in this action. See Shalala v. Schaefer, 509 U.S. 292, 302 (1993).
The court further finds that the request is reasonable as to hourly amount and hours spent.
Payment in the amount of $3,600.43 shall be paid directly to attorney Stephen Speicher
with the understanding that any payment of the attorney fees by the claimant pursuant to
42 U.S.C. § 406(b) will be reduced by the amount of the fee authorized under the EAJA
and will be reduced by any qualifying offset.
IT IS ORDERED that plaintiff’s motion for payment of attorney fees, Filing No. 30, is
granted. Payment in the amount of $3,600.43, minus any authorized deductions, shall be
paid directly to attorney Stephen Speicher as set forth herein.
DATED this 17th day of June, 2011.
BY THE COURT:

s/ Joseph F. Bataillon
Chief United States District Judge

*This opinion m ay contain hyperlinks to other docum ents or W eb sites. The U.S. District Court for
the District of Nebraska does not endorse, recom m end, approve, or guarantee any third parties or the services
or products they provide on their W eb sites. Likewise, the court has no agreem ents with any of these third
parties or their W eb sites. The court accepts no responsibility for the availability or functionality of any
hyperlink. Thus, the fact that a hyperlink ceases to work or directs the user to som e other site does not affect
the opinion of the court.
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