Basinger v. Commissioner of Social Security

Filing 30

ORDER granting 28 Motion for Attorney Fees, as more fully set out. Signed by Honorable David L. Russell on 3/6/17. (jw)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA
DIANNA LYNN BASINGER,
Plaintiff,
v.
NANCY A. BERRYHILL1, Acting
Commissioner of the Social Security
Administration,
Defendant.

)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)

CIV-13-826-R

ORDER
Before the Court is the Motion for Attorney Fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b) filed by
Plaintiff’s attorneys, the firm of Troutman & Troutman, P.C. Doc. No. 28. By this motion,
Plaintiff’s counsel, Steve Troutman, seeks an Order approving an award of $11,242.36 for
legal work performed before this Court. Defendant filed a response, although she has no
stake in the outcome of this motion and expressed no opinion regarding the propriety of
the requested fee award. Having considered counsel's request, the Court finds as follows.
On September 11, 2014, the Court entered judgment in favor of Plaintiff and
remanded this matter to the Commissioner for additional proceedings. Upon remand the
Commissioner concluded that Plaintiff was disabled and therefore entitled to an award of
past due benefits totaling $44,969.44. The Commissioner held back twenty-five percent of
that amount for attorneys' fees. As noted, Counsel now seeks fees of $11,242.36, which

1

Nancy A. Berryhill replaced Carolyn W. Colvin as acting Commissioner. Accordingly, pursuant to Rule 25(d),
Nancy Berryhill is hereby substituted as Defendant herein.

constitutes 25% of Plaintiff’s past-due benefits. The request and amount are in accordance
with the contingent fee agreement executed by Plaintiff and her counsel. (Doc. No. 28, Ex.
1).
Counsel’s request for fees is governed by 42 U.S.C. § 406(b)(1)(A), which states:
Whenever a court renders a judgment favorable to a claimant under this
subchapter who was represented before the court by an attorney, the court
may determine and allow as part of its judgment a reasonable fee for such
representation, not in excess of 25 percent of the total of the past-due benefits
to which the claimant is entitled by reason of such judgment. . . .
Where, as here, a contingent fee agreement is in place, the Court must examine the
reasonableness of its terms and reduce an award as appropriate “based on the character of
the representation and the results the representative achieved.” Gisbrecht v. Barnhart, 535
U.S. 789, 808 (2002).
In support of the motion, counsel attached a time report demonstrating that 28.1
hours of attorney time and 4.2 hours of paralegal time were expended performing work
before this Court prior to remand. After considering the extent of work performed, the
result obtained, and the fee award sought, the Court finds the amount to be a reasonable
fee for the work performed. The benefits awarded to Plaintiff justify the amount of time
spent by the firm handling the case and the evidence before the Court offers nothing to
suggest that the character of the representation or the results achieved were in any way
deficient. Because Plaintiff's counsel previously sought and received a $5,701.00 fee award
pursuant to EAJA, counsel must refund that award to Plaintiff if it was indeed received by
counsel.

2

As set forth above, the Motion for Attorney Fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b) (Doc.
No. 28) is GRANTED. Plaintiff's counsel is awarded a fee in the amount of $11,242.36.
The check should be made payable to Steve Troutman of Troutman & Troutman. Because
the Court previously awarded fees under the EAJA, Plaintiff is entitled to a refund of the
smaller EAJA award, which counsel shall forward immediately upon receipt of the fees
awarded herein provided that Plaintiff previously paid
IT IS SO ORDERED this 6th day of March, 2017.

3