Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-azd-2_99-cv-00793/USCOURTS-azd-2_99-cv-00793-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 864
Nature of Suit: Social Security - SSID Title XVI
Cause of Action: 42:405 Review of HHS Decision (SSID)

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WO

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

Lisa Finney, )

)

Plaintiff, ) No. CV-99-0793-PHX-PGR

)

vs. )

) ORDER

Commissioner of Social Security, )

)

Defendant. ) )

Pending before the Court is Plaintiff's Attorney's Motion for an Award of

Attorney Fees Under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b) (doc. #27). Having considered the

parties' memoranda, the Court finds that the motion should be granted.

The plaintiff was successfully represented in this Social Security appeal by

Stephanie Lake, Esq. through a contingency fee contract that entitled Ms. Lake to

an attorney fee award of 25% of the past-due benefits obtained by the plaintiff. 

As a result of this Court's entry of summary judgment in the plaintiff's favor, the

Social Security Administration awarded the plaintiff past-due Title II benefits in the

amount of $70,316.50. Pursuant to the parties' stipulation, the Court

subsequently awarded Ms. Lake $2,700.00 in attorney fees pursuant to the Equal

Case 2:99-cv-00793-PGR Document 33 Filed 09/14/06 Page 1 of 3
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 Because the Supreme Court has instructed that it is the overall reasonableness of

the requested amount in light of the contingent fee contract that the Court must consider, not

the lodestar calculation, the Court rejects the defendant's contention that the requested amount

should be reduced by some unstated "moderate amount" because Ms. Lake is in effect seeking

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Access to Justice Act. Ms. Lake now seeks a total award of $9,079.13 in fees

pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 406(b).

Attorney fees for the successful representation of a Social Security

claimant at the judicial review stage are governed by 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), which

provides for the award of a reasonable fee not to exceed 25% of the past-due

benefits obtained by the claimant as a result of the representation. The Supreme

Court has held that the lodestar approach to calculating a reasonable attorney fee

is inappropriate for evaluating a contingent-fee agreement under § 406(b). 

Gisbrecht v. Barnhart, 535 U.S. 789,122 S.Ct. 1817 (2002). It has instead

determined that § 406(b), rather than displacing contingent-fee agreements within

the statutory ceiling, instructs courts to review for reasonableness fees yielded by

those agreements. Id., at 808-09, 122 S.Ct. at 1829. While an attorney for a

successful claimant may receive payment of fees under both EAJA and § 406(b),

the attorney must refund to the claimant the smaller of the two awards. Id., at

796, 122 S.Ct. at 1822.

Having reviewed the record, the Court finds that the $ 9,079.13 requested

by Ms. Lake is reasonable given that the requested amount is within the statutory

ceiling inasmuch as it amounts to a fee award of approximately 13% of the pastdue benefits the plaintiff received, and that the requested amount is reasonable

given the contingent character of Ms. Lakes' representation, the complexity of the

case, and the results achieved.1

 Therefore,

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a "windfall" hourly rate of approximately $436.50. 

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IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiff's Attorney's Motion for an Award of Attorney

Fees Under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b) (doc. #27) is granted and that the plaintiff's

counsel, Stephanie Lake, is awarded the sum of $ 9,079.12 in attorney fees

pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), to be paid out of the sums withheld by the

defendant from the plaintiff's past-due benefits. 

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Ms. Lake, upon receipt of her attorney fee

paid pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), shall immediately refund to the plaintiff the 

$ 2,700.00 that Ms. Lake received as an attorney fee pursuant to the Equal

Access to Justice Act.

DATED this 12th day of September, 2006.

Case 2:99-cv-00793-PGR Document 33 Filed 09/14/06 Page 3 of 3