Summary
The court grants Plaintiff’s counsel’s motion for attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b) following a sentence-four remand in a Social Security disability benefits case. The court awards Olinsky Law Group $13,924.00 from Plaintiff’s past-due benefits and orders counsel to refund the previously awarded $5,582.45 EAJA fee to Plaintiff.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether Plaintiff's counsel was entitled to a reasonable attorney-fee award under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b) after the sentence-four remand resulted in an award of past-due benefits.
- Whether the requested $13,924.00 fee was reasonable under the contingent-fee agreement and applicable § 406(b) standards.
- Whether the EAJA award had to offset the § 406(b) award and be refunded to Plaintiff.
Holdings
- A court entering judgment favorable to a Social Security claimant may award a reasonable attorney fee under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the statutory ceiling of 25 percent of the claimant's past-due benefits.
- The requested $13,924.00 § 406(b) fee was reasonable and did not constitute a windfall to counsel.
- The $5,582.45 EAJA award offsets the § 406(b) award, and counsel must refund that amount to Plaintiff.
Key quotations
“Within the 25 percent boundary, . . . the attorney for the successful claimant must show that the fee sought is reasonable for the services rendered.” (at 2)
“[A] district court charged with determining a reasonable fee award under § 406(b)(1)(A) must respect ‘the primacy of lawful attorney-client fee agreements,’ . . . ‘looking first to the contingent-fee agreement, then testing it for reasonableness[.]’” (at 2)
“an EAJA award offsets an award under Section 406(b), so that the amount of the total past-due benefits the claimant actually receives will be increased by the EAJA award up to the point the claimant receives 100 percent of the past-due benefits.” (at 6)
Factual background
Plaintiff retained Olinsky Law Group under an agreement providing for a contingency fee of up to 25 percent of past-due benefits. After the federal court remanded the case, the Commissioner awarded Plaintiff $92,496.00 in past-due benefits. Counsel requested $13,924.00 under § 406(b), calculated after subtracting a $9,200.00 hearing-level fee, and agreed to refund the previously awarded $5,582.45 EAJA fee to Plaintiff.
Procedural history
Stella M. filed an action seeking review of the Commissioner's denial of disability and supplemental security income benefits. On January 3, 2023, the court granted the parties' joint motion to remand under sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). On remand, the Commissioner awarded $92,496.00 in past-due benefits, and the court awarded $5,582.45 in EAJA fees. Plaintiff's counsel then sought $13,924.00 in § 406(b) fees, subject to an EAJA offset; the court granted the motion.
Remand instructions
The Commissioner was directed to certify payment of $13,924.00 in § 406(b) fees to Olinsky Law Group from Plaintiff's past-due benefits in accordance with agency policy. Counsel was ordered to refund $5,582.45 to Plaintiff as the EAJA offset.