Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-87-02785/USCOURTS-ca10-87-02785-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Otis R. Bowen
Appellant
Duane Martinez
Appellee

Document Text:

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

TENTH CIRCUIT 

DUANE MARTINEZ, 

Plaintiff-Appellee, 

.FILED 

Unit.eel States Court of Appeal 

Tenth Circuit 8 

JAN 1 91989 

ROBERT L. HOECKER 

Clerk 

v. 

OTIS R. BOWEN, M.D., 

Secretary of Health and 

Human Services, 

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No. 87-2785 

(D.C. No. 87-K-314) 

(D. Colo.) 

Defendant-Appellant. 

ORDER AND JUDGMENT 

Before McKAY, BARRETT and BALDOCK, Circuit Judges. 

This is an appeal from a district court order awarding 

plaintiff-appellee (claimant) $2,850 in attorney's fees under the 

Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(l)(a). 1 

Claimant successfully challenged the final decision of the 

defendant-appellant (Secretary) denying him Supplemental Security 

Income (SSI) benefits, and the Secretary did not appeal. In 

awarding attorney's fees, the district court merely stated that 

the Secretary's position was not substantially justified. 

1 After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel 

has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially 

assist the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 

34(a); Tenth Cir. R. 34.1.8. The cause was vacated from the oral 

argument calendar and shall be submitted on the briefs. 

Appellate Case: 87-2785 Document: 01019962354 Date Filed: 01/19/1989 Page: 1 
Martinez v. Bowen, No. 87-K-314 (D. Colo. Sept. 15, 1987) 

(unpublished order). We reverse and remand. 

While the district court's order does have the advantage of 

brevity, it contains insufficient findings to permit meaningful 

appellate review. If the district court meant that a lack of 

substantial evidence on the merits may be equated with a lack of 

substantial justification under the EAJA, we have rejected this 

position in a case subsequent to the filing of this appeal. See 

Hadden v. Bowen, 851 F.2d 1266 (10th Cir. 1988). Accordingly, the 

case is remanded to the district court for adequate findings of 

fact and conclusions of law, Fed. R. Civ. P. 52(a), in accordance 

with the standards of Hadden v. Bowen. 

The Secretary's motion to strike is denied as moot. 

SO ORDERED. 

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Entered for the Court 

Bobby R. Baldock 

Circuit Judge 

Appellate Case: 87-2785 Document: 01019962354 Date Filed: 01/19/1989 Page: 2