Peterson v. Commissioner Social Security Administration
Filing
32
ORDER - Granting Plaintiff's Application for Fees Pursuant to EAJA 28 . Signed on 1/26/2015 by Judge Michael H. Simon. (mja)
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF OREGON
BARBARA PETERSON,
Plaintiff,
Case No. 6:13-cv-01812-SI
ORDER
v.
CAROLYN W. COLVIN,
Acting Commissioner of Social Security,
Defendant.
Michael H. Simon, District Judge.
On Decemeber 10, 2014, the Court reversed the Commissioner’s determination that
Plaintiff was not disabled and remanded the matter back to the agency for further proceedings.
Dkt. 26. Before the Court is Plaintiff’s application for attorney’s fees pursuant to the Equal
Access to Justice Act (“EAJA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2412. Dkt. 28.
The EAJA authorizes the payment of attorney’s fees to a prevailing party in an action
against the United States, unless the government shows that its position in the underlying
litigation “was substantially justified.” 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(1)(A). Although the EAJA creates a
presumption that fees will be awarded to a prevailing party, Congress did not intend fee shifting
to be mandatory. Flores v. Shalala, 49 F.3d 562, 567 (9th Cir. 1995). The decision to deny EAJA
PAGE 1 – ORDER
attorney’s fees is within the discretion of the court. Id.; Lewis v. Barnhart, 281 F.3d 1081, 1083
(9th Cir. 2002). A social security claimant is the “prevailing party” following a sentence-four
remand pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) either for further administrative proceedings or for the
payment of benefits. Flores, 49 F.3d at 567-68 (citing Shalala v. Schaefer, 509 U.S. 292, 300
(1993)). Fee awards under the EAJA are paid to the litigant, and not the litigant’s attorney,
unless the litigant has assigned his or her rights to counsel to receive the fee award. Astrue v.
Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 596-98 (2010).
Plaintiff seeks an award of attorney’s fees in the amount of $3,533.20. Defendant does
not challenge the applicability of the EAJA statute and does not object to Plaintiff’s request for
attorney’s fees. Dkt. 28. The Court has reviewed Plaintiff’s motion and agrees with the parties
that the EAJA petition is proper and the amount requested is reasonable.
Therefore, Plaintiff’s application for attorney’s fees (Dkt. 28), is GRANTED. Plaintiff is
awarded $3,533.20 for attorney’s fees and expenses under 28 U.S.C. § 2412. EAJA fees,
expenses, and costs are subject to any offsets allowed under the Treasury Offset Program, as
discussed in Ratliff, 560 U.S. at 593-94. Because Plaintiff has filed with the court an assignment
of EAJA fees to her counsel (Dkt. 31), Defendant shall cause the payment of fees, after any
applicable offsets, to be made directly to Plaintiff’s counsel.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED this 26th day of January, 2015.
/s/ Michael H. Simon
Michael H. Simon
United States District Judge
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