Shaun Williams v. Commissioner of Social Security

Summary

The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington granted Plaintiff Shaun Williams’s motion for attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b). The court awarded Plaintiff’s counsel $21,925.05 from past-due Social Security benefits, subject to applicable processing fees, and noted the required treatment of the prior EAJA fee award.

Holdings

1. A court may award a reasonable fee to counsel who represented a successful Social Security Title II claimant before the court, subject to the requirements and limits of 42 U.S.C. § 406(b).
2. The requested § 406(b) fee was permissible because it was reasonable and did not exceed 25 percent of the claimant's total past-due benefits.
3. Fees may be awarded under both the EAJA and § 406(b), but counsel must refund to the claimant the amount of the smaller fee.

Questions Presented

1. Whether plaintiff's counsel was entitled to a reasonable attorney-fee award under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b).
2. Whether the requested fee complied with the statutory limitation that a § 406(b) fee not exceed 25 percent of the claimant's past-due benefits.
3. How the § 406(b) award should be reconciled with the prior EAJA fee award.

Disposition

other