Petty v. Social Security Administration

Filing 24

ORDER re 23 MOTION for Attorney Fees Under the EAJA in the amount of $7,400.00 filed by Homer Anthony Petty Signed by Magistrate Judge Susan K Lee on 9/10/13. (GRE, )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
AT GREENEVILLE
HOMER ANTHONY PETTY,

)
)
Plaintiff,
)
)
v.
)
)
COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, )
)
Defendant.
)

No. 2:12-cv-324
Mattice /Lee

ORDER
Before the Court is Plaintiff’s motion for attorney’s fees under the Equal Access to Justice
Act (“EAJA”), 28 U.S.C. ' 2412(d) [Doc. 23]. Plaintiff requests attorney’s fees at a rate of
$185.00 per hour and requests that the fees be paid directly to his counsel. Plaintiff has submitted
an affidavit with an itemized record of the time spent by his counsel on this case [Doc. 23 at Page
ID # 125-26], as well as a fee agreement between Plaintiff and his counsel [Doc. 23 at Page ID
#124]. Defendant has not filed a response. Under E.D. Tenn. L. R. 7.2, this Court deems the
failure to respond to a motion as a waiver of any opposition to the requested relief. As public
funds are involved in this instance, however, the Court will deem the failure to respond as a waiver
only to Plaintiff’s entitlement to fees, and not as a waiver to the amount of fees or the person
payable.
Defendant is hereby ORDERED to respond to Plaintiff’s motion within five (5) days of
entry of this order, specifically to address: (1) the hourly rate requested by Plaintiff and whether it
is an appropriate rate under Cook v. Barnhart, 246 F. Supp. 2d 908, 910 (E.D. Tenn. 2003) and its
progeny, and (2) whether Plaintiff’s request that fees be paid directly to his counsel is appropriate
in this case.

In addition, Defendant is on NOTICE that Defendant is expected to respond to all such
motions in the future, even if only to notify the Court that Defendant has no objection to the relief
requested in the motion.
SO ORDERED.
ENTER:
s/Susan K. Lee
SUSAN K. LEE
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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