United States District Court

for the

Southern District of Florida

Suzanne Wheeler-McCorvey, 

Plaintiff,

v.

Martin O'Malley, Commissioner for 

Social Security Administration, 

Defendant.

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Civil Action No. 22-62104-Civ-Scola

Omnibus Order Adopting Reports and Recommendations

Upon referral (ECF No. 2), United States Magistrate Judge Jonathan 

Goodman recommends that the Court grant in part and deny in part Plaintiff 

Suzanne Wheeler-McCorvey’s unopposed motion for attorney’s fees under the 

Equal Access to Justice Act (Rep. & Recs., ECF No. 32). Wheeler-McCorvey 

objects to those aspects of Judge Goodman’s report that recommend 

reductions to the fees sought. (Objs., ECF No. 34.) The Court has conducted a 

de novo review of the entirety of Judge Goodman’s report and 

recommendations, the record, and the relevant legal authorities. Having done 

so, the Court finds Judge Goodman’s report and recommendations thorough, 

cogent, and compelling. Accordingly, the Court overrules Wheeler-McCorvey’s 

objections (ECF Nos. 34), adopts Judge Goodman’s report and 

recommendations in whole (ECF No. 33), and thus grants in part and denies

in part Wheeler-McCorvey’s motion for fees (ECF No. 32).

Wheeler-McCorvey objects to that part of Judge Goodman’s report that 

recommends reducing three block-billed time entries by 40%. As Judge 

Goodman explains, these three problematic time entries, each listing the 

entirety of a day’s tasks on a case in a single entry—without identifying the

amount of time spent on each discrete task—hamper the Court’s ability to 

assess the reasonableness of the fees sought. (Rep. & Recs. at 5–6.) Of 

particular concern here, as Judge Goodman notes, counsel’s entries prevented

him from determining, for example, how much time was spent researching 

versus how much time was spent writing because the tasks were lumped 

together. (Id. at 6.) Accordingly, Judge Goodman applied a reduction of 40% to 

those three time entries, resulting in a deduction of $2,410.23 from WheelerMcCorvey’s fee request of $7,219.12 (amounting to a recommended award of 

$4,808.89).

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In objecting, Wheeler-McCorvey doesn’t identify any particular error, 

instead, simply supplying the information Judge Goodman identifies as 

missing from her motion. (Objs. at 2.) While the Court has discretion to 

consider evidence that was not presented to the magistrate judge in the first 

instance, Wheeler-McCorvey fails to present any argument in that regard or 

otherwise offer any explanation for the initial omission. Ultimately, then, the 

Court finds this after-the-fact bolstering of her motion comes too late and 

declines to consider it. The time to supply this information was in the initial 

motion, for consideration by Judge Goodman. “[A]llowing a party to raise new 

arguments and present new evidence that it did not present to the magistrate 

judge would effectively nullify the magistrate judge’s consideration of the 

matter and would not help to relieve the workload of the district court.” Cross 

v. Equityexperts.org, LLC, No. 19-14067, 2021 WL 5279412, at *6 (11th Cir. 

Nov. 12, 2021) (cleaned up). 

Accordingly, after careful, de novo review, the Court agrees with all of 

Judge Goodman’s findings and conclusions, as set forth above. Consistent 

then, with his recommendations, the Court awards $4,808.89 in attorney’s 

fees to Plaintiff Suzanne Wheeler-McCorvey, made payable directly to Plaintiff’s 

counsel, David B. Goetz, at 2300 NW Corporate Blvd., Suite 244, Boca Raton, 

Florida 33327, unless Wheeler-McCorvey owes a federal debt.

Done and ordered in Miami, Florida, on June 28, 2024.

___________________________________

Robert N. Scola, Jr.

United States District Judge

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