Daniels v. Commissioner of Social Security

Filing 45

Opinion & Order signed by Judge James S. Gwin on 1/4/17. The Court orders payment of attorneys' fees at a rate of $350 per hour for 19 hours totaling $6,650.00. The plaintiff's attorneys must also refund the plaintiff the $3,359.42 in attorneys' fees this Court previously awarded. (Related Docs. 42 and 44 ) (D,MA)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO
------------------------------------------------------:
CORTNEY DANIELS,
:
:
Petitioner,
:
:
vs.
:
:
CAROLYN W. COLVIN,
:
Acting Commissioner of Social Security,
:
:
Respondent.
:
:
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Case No. 1:11-CV-806

OPINION & ORDER
[Resolving Doc. Nos. 42, 44]

JAMES S. GWIN, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE:

In this Social Security case, Plaintiff Courtney Daniels seeks approval for $15,159.05 in
attorneys’ fees.1 Respondent Acting Commissioner does not oppose.2 This Court concludes that
awarding $15,159.05, or $797.84 per hour, would be a windfall for the Plaintiff’s attorneys.
Consequently, this Court ORDERS payment of attorneys’ fees at $350 per hour for 19 hours
totaling $6,650.00.

I.

Background
In 2011 and 2012, Plaintiff successfully challenged the Commissioner of Social

Security’s decision to deny her disability benefits.3 Consequently, this Court awarded the
Plaintiff $3,359.42 in attorneys’ fees under 28 U.S.C. § 2412.4 On remand, the Commissioner
awarded the Plaintiff $60,636.20 in past-due benefits.5 The Plaintiff now asks this Court to

1

Doc. 42.
Doc. 44.
3
Docs. 1 & 25.
4
Doc. 32.
5
Doc. 42-2.
2

Case No. 11-CV-806
Gwin, J.
approve allotting 25% of the award, or $15,159.05, to her attorneys because of their contingency
fee agreement. The Plaintiff’s attorneys say they will refund their prior attorneys’ fees if this
Court approves an award greater than $3,359.42.6

II.

Analysis
This Court must determine what is a reasonable attorneys’ fee in this case.
In a typical Social Security action, a plaintiff sues the Commissioner for denying a

benefits claim. When a plaintiff wins, she receives a payment of “past-due benefits” totaling
what she would have received were her claim not originally denied.7 Under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b),
an attorney may receive up to 25% of a past-due benefit award. However, courts must review
the reasonableness of contingency fees.8
In the Sixth Circuit, there is “a rebuttable presumption that an attorney would receive the
full 25% contingency fee under contract unless . . . the attorney would enjoy an undeserved
windfall due to the client’s large back pay award or the attorney’s relatively minimal effort.”9
Factors courts consider in determining whether a contingency fee payout constitutes a
windfall include (1) “the standard rates applied to social security fee requests”10; (2) whether an
award is more than twice the standard hourly rate11; and (3) the “the ‘brevity’ . . . of the
representation.”12 “If the benefits are large in comparison to the amount of time counsel spent on
the case, a downward adjustment is . . . in order.”13

6

Doc. 42 at 4.
42 U.S.C. § 404(a)(1)(B)(i).
8
Gisbrecht v. Barnhart, 535 U.S. 780, 807 (2002).
9
Hayes v. Sec’y of HHS, 923 F.2d 418, 419 (6th Cir. 1990).
10
Lasley v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec., 771 F.3d 308, 310 (6th Cir. 2014).
11
Hayes, 923 F.2d at 422.
12
Lasley, 771 F.3d at 310.
13
Gisbrecht, 535 U.S. at 808.
7

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Case No. 11-CV-806
Gwin, J.
Here, the Plaintiff’s attorneys would enjoy a windfall if this court approved a rate of
$797.84 per hour. In Ohio, the standard billing rate for Social Security cases is $250 per hour.14
The Plaintiff’s request for $797.84 per hour is more than double the standard rate. Additionally,
although this Court acknowledges that the Plaintiff’s attorneys succeeded, they only represented
their client for 19 hours—a relatively brief amount of time.15 Therefore, this Court reduces the
attorneys’ fees to $350 per hour for 19 hours totaling $6,650.00.

III.

Conclusion
Accordingly, this Court ORDERS payment of attorneys’ fees at a rate of $350 per hour

for 19 hours totaling $6,650.00. The Plaintiff’s attorneys must also REFUND the Plaintiff the
$3,359.42 in attorneys’ fees this Court previously awarded.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: January 4, 2017

s/
James S. Gwin
JAMES S. GWIN
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

The Ohio State Bar Ass’n, The Economics of Law Practice in Ohio in 2013, at 40 available at :
https://www.ohiobar.org/NewsAndPublications/Documents/OSBA EconOfLawPracticeOhio.pdf. Paying the
Plaintiff’s attorneys $350 per hour compensates them in the 95th percentile for Ohio social security cases.
15
Docs. 42-4 & 42-5.
14

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