Chapman v. Colvin

Filing 34

ORDER granting 29 MOTION for Attorney Fees and Other Expenses by Judge Richard A. Jones. (VE)

HONORABLE RICHARD A. JONES

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE

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TRISHA ANN MARIE CHAPMAN,
Plaintiff,

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CAROLYN W. COLVIN, in her capacity
as Acting Commissioner of the Social
Security Administration,

ORDER

Defendant.

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CASE NO. C14-5221RAJ

v.

This matter comes before the court on Plaintiff’s motion (Dkt. # 29) for attorney

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fees following a favorable resolution of her appeal of the Commissioner’s denial of

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Social Security disability benefits. For the reasons stated below, the court GRANTS the

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motion and awards Plaintiff $6728.12 in attorney fees and $20.07 in litigation expenses,

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payable as described at the conclusion of this order.

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The Commissioner does not contest the amount of Plaintiff’s fees; the sole basis

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for opposing Plaintiff’s motion is the contention that the decision to deny Plaintiff

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disability benefits was substantially justified. The Equal Access to Justice Act (“EAJA”)

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mandates that when a civil litigant prevails in an action by or against the United States,

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that litigant shall receive attorney fees “unless the court finds that the position of the

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United States was substantially justified or that special circumstances make an award

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unjust.” 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(1)(A). The burden is on the government to demonstrate

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ORDER – 1

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that its position was substantially justified. Tobeler v. Colvin, 749 F.3d 830, 832 (9th Cir.

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2014). In a case challenging the administrative decision of a federal agency, the

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government must show both that its position in the underlying agency action and that its

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position in the litigation challenging that action had a reasonable basis in law and fact.

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Id.

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The Commissioner correctly points out that there was substantial justification for

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many aspects of the ALJ’s decision to deny Plaintiff benefits. That, however, is not the

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standard; the Commissioner must show that its position on the particular issue on which

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the claimant earned remand was substantially justified. Hardisty v. Astrue, 592 F.3d

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1072, 1078 (9th Cir. 2010). The court’s ruling was that the Commissioner did not have a

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reasonable basis to conclude that Plaintiff’s mental health permitted her to work. Mar.

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11, 2015 ord. (Dkt. # 27) at 6 (“[T]he ALJ lacked specific and legitimate reasons to give

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little weight to the conclusions of the examining psychologists.”). The court finds that

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the administrative decision was not substantially justified.
The court awards EAJA attorney fees of $6728.12 in attorney fees and $20.07 in

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litigation expenses to Plaintiff pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 593 (2010). If

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the United States determines that Plaintiff’s EAJA fees are not subject to any offset

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allowed under the Department of the Treasury’s Offset Program, it shall issue payment to

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Plaintiff.1
DATED this 14th day of July, 2015.

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A

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The Honorable Richard A. Jones
United States District Court Judge

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Plaintiff’s proposed order contains no instructions regarding the recipient of the payment.

ORDER – 2