Haese v. Commissioner of Social Security Administration
Filing
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ORDER granting 34 Motion for Attorney Fees and awarding attorney's fees in the amount of $18,434.10. Signed by Honorable Charles Goodwin on 09/19/2019. (jb)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA
DAVID SCOTT HAESE,
Plaintiff,
v.
ANDREW SAUL,
Commissioner of Social Security,
Defendant.
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Case No. CIV-17-15-G
ORDER
Now before the Court is Plaintiff David Scott Haese’s Motion for Attorney Fees
Under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b) (Doc. No. 34), filed through Plaintiff’s counsel Melissa S.
Hedrick.
On March 13, 2018, the Court entered a Judgment reversing the Commissioner’s
decision denying Plaintiff’s applications for disability insurance benefits (“DIB”) and
supplemental security income (“SSI”) and remanding the case for further administrative
proceedings under the fourth sentence of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). See J. (Doc. No. 25) at 1.
On July 7, 2019, the Social Security Administration issued a favorable decision on
Plaintiff’s applications and found Plaintiff disabled as of February 13, 2012. See Pl.’s Mot.
Att’y Fees Ex. 2 (Doc. No. 34-2) at 3-4. The Commissioner has notified Plaintiff that up
to $19,021.50 of withheld benefits can be applied toward her attorneys’ fees. See id. at 56; Pl.’s Mot. Att’y Fees at 1-2; id. Ex. 1 (Doc. No. 34-1) at 1 (contingent-fee contract
between Plaintiff and his counsel prescribing that if Plaintiff is awarded benefits after a
remand from federal court, counsel will request the court to approve a fee of “not to exceed
25 percent of the past due benefits”). In addition, the Court has previously awarded
$6587.40 in attorney’s fees pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act (“EAJA”), 28
U.S.C. §§ 2412 et seq. See Order of July 2, 2018 (Doc. No. 29). Plaintiff’s attorney now
requests an award of $18,434.10, which is less than the sum of the funds being withheld
(less $6000.00 available to pay Plaintiff’s administrative-level representative, see Pl.’s
Mot. Att’y Fees at 2) and the previous EAJA award amount.
Subsection 406(b) provides:
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 . . . .
42 U.S.C. § 406(b)(1)(A). Any such payment must be made “out of, and not in addition
to,” the past-due benefits owed to the claimant. Id. This subsection “does not displace
contingent-fee agreements as the primary means by which fees are set for successfully
representing Social Security benefits claimants in court” so long as the agreed-upon
amount stays within the statute’s “25 percent boundary.” Gisbrecht v. Barnhart, 535 U.S.
789, 807 (2002). For a fee request that lies within this boundary, “the attorney for the
successful claimant” still “must show that the fee sought is reasonable for the services
rendered.” Id.
The Commissioner has responded that he has no objection to Plaintiff’s counsel’s
current request for $18,434.10 in fees. See Def.’s Resp. (Doc. No. 35) at 1-2. The
Commissioner correctly notes, however, that if fees are now awarded pursuant to § 406(b)
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Plaintiff’s counsel must refund the lesser EAJA award to Plaintiff. See id. at 2; Order of
July 2, 2018, at 1-2; McGraw v. Barnhart, 450 F.3d 493, 497 & n.2 (10th Cir. 2006).
Having carefully reviewed the parties’ submissions, the Court finds that an award
of $18,434.10, which is less than 25% of the past-due benefits awarded, is a reasonable fee
award for the work performed in this case in view of the contingent nature of the
representation, the applicable attorney-fee agreement, and the results achieved. While
before the Court, Ms. Hedrick filed a detailed opening brief, presenting a well-supported
argument that the administrative law judge erred in denying Plaintiff’s DIB and SSI claims.
See Doc. No. 19. The Commissioner filed a brief in opposition, which Ms. Hedrick was
required to review. See Doc. No. 22; Pl.’s Mot. Att’y Fees Ex. 3 (Doc. No. 34-3) at 2. Ms.
Hedrick represents that her firm spent 34.4 hours litigating Plaintiff’s disability case in
federal court, which would result in an effective hourly rate of $559.95 with respect to the
relevant portion of the requested § 406(b) fee. See Pl.’s Mot. Att’y Fees at 12; see
Gisbrecht, 535 U.S. at 793, 808 (rejecting the “lodestar” method of calculating fee awards
under § 406(b) but noting that the district court may consider the hours spent and other
factors in contingency-fee cases to help assess “the reasonableness of the fee yielded by
the fee agreement”); cf. Harlan v. Colvin, No. CIV-13-477-D, 2015 WL 9295809, at *1
(W.D. Okla. Dec. 18, 2015) (awarding $17,429.22 where the putative rate was between
$517.95 and $632.64 per hour). Plaintiff and Ms. Hedrick agreed that the latter may collect
attorney’s fees for representation before the Court for an amount greater than the currently
pending request. See Pl.’s Mot. Att’y Fees Ex. 1, at 1.
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Accordingly, Plaintiff’s Motion for Attorney Fees (Doc. No. 34) is GRANTED.
Plaintiff’s attorney Ms. Melissa Hedrick is awarded attorney’s fees in the amount of
$18,434.10, to be paid out of the past-due benefits Plaintiff received by reason of the
remand and favorable decision in this case. See 42 U.S.C. 406(b)(1)(A). The Social
Security Administration shall pay this amount directly to: Melissa S. Hedrick, 630 NE 63rd
Street, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105. Upon payment, Ms. Hedrick shall promptly
refund to Plaintiff the $6587.40 previously awarded under 28 U.S.C. § 2412. See Order of
July 2, 2018, at 1-2; McGraw, 450 F.3d at 497 & n.2.
IT IS SO ORDERED this 19th day of September, 2019.
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