Anthony Lee Gallegos v. Frank Bisignano, Commissioner of the Social Security Administration

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of New Mexico grants Anthony Lee Gallegos’s motion for attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b) after a sentence-four remand resulted in a fully favorable Social Security disability decision and an award of past-due benefits. The court approves $16,356.37 in fees for counsel’s 27.3 hours of federal-court work and directs counsel to refund the previously awarded $6,973.90 EAJA fee, subject to any Treasury offset.

Holdings

1. A request for attorney fees under § 406(b) should be filed within a reasonable time after the Commissioner's decision awarding benefits, and this request was timely because it was filed shortly after the SSA issued its Notice of Award.
2. The requested § 406(b) fee was permissible because it did not exceed 25 percent of the claimant's past-due benefits, and the 25-percent cap applies to court-stage fees rather than aggregating court-stage and agency-stage fees.
3. The requested $16,356.37 fee was reasonable and could be paid from Gallegos's past-due benefits.
4. When counsel receives both EAJA fees and § 406(b) fees for the same representation, counsel must refund the smaller EAJA award to the claimant.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the attorney's request for $16,356.37 in fees for representation before the district court was timely under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b).
2. Whether the requested fee complied with the statutory 25-percent limitation for court-stage representation.
3. Whether the requested § 406(b) fee was reasonable under Gisbrecht v. Barnhart.

Disposition

other