Lisa Ann Jameson v. Frank Bisignano, Commissioner of Social Security

Summary

The United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky partially granted and partially denied counsel’s motion for attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b) in a Social Security disability case. Although counsel sought $26,261.75, the court approved $19,365.00 based on the reasonable effective hourly rates and hours attributable to the attorneys’ federal-court work. The court directed payment of the approved amount from the plaintiff’s past-due benefits and found that no EAJA offset was required.

Holdings

1. A contingency-fee agreement within § 406(b)'s 25-percent cap is entitled to a rebuttable presumption of reasonableness, but the court must independently assess whether the requested fee is reasonable for the services rendered. Because counsel did not provide sufficient evidence supporting an effective rate of approximately $629.02 per hour, the court reduced the requested fee and approved $19,365.00.
2. Time spent preparing and filing a motion for attorney fees is not compensable under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b) and must be excluded from the hours used to calculate the effective hourly rate.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the requested attorney fee of $26,261.75, equal to 25 percent of Plaintiff's past-due benefits, was reasonable under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b).
2. Whether time spent preparing and filing the § 406(b) fee motion could be included in calculating the compensable effective hourly rate.
3. Whether the court could reduce an otherwise presumptively reasonable and unopposed contingency-fee request after independently reviewing the circumstances of the case.

Disposition

other