FILED U.S. COURT OF A P P E A LS E LE V EN T HC IR C U IT J AN 08 2008 THOMAS K. KAH

N CLERK

Honora ble Wm. Terre ll Hodge s, United States District Judg e for the Middle District of * Florida , sitti ngby

designation. [ DO NO T P UB L I S H] I N THE UN I TE D STATE S C OU RT OF APPE ALS F O R T H E E L E V E N T H C IR C U IT

________________________ N o. 07- 11298

________________________ D . C . D ocketN o. 02 -029 37 -C V -C A M -1 C Y N T H I A R . B L I T C H , P la in tif f - A p p e lla n t, v ersu s M I C H A E L J . A S T R U E , C o m m is s io n e r , S o c ia l S e c u r ity A d m in is tr a tio n , D e f e n d a n t- A p p e lle e .

________________________ A pp ea l fr om t he U ni t ed S t at es D i stri ctC ou rt f o rth e N o r th e r n D is tr ic t o f G e o r g ia

_________________________ ( Jan u ar y 8, 2008) B ef ore A N D E R S O N and B L A C K , C i rc ui tJudg es , and H O D G E S , D i stri ctJudg e. * P E R C U R I A M:We arevery sy mpathetic with the attorne y ’s plight unde r the unique c ircumstance s 1 c re ate d b y

a re mand judgme nt u

nd e r s e ntenc e fo ur

of 42 U. S.C. § 4 05 (g ). Our u nd e rs tandingis the amount of fe es owe d under a conting ency

arrang ement is not established for months after r e m an d , unt i l th e S o c i a l S e c uri ty A dm i n i s tr at i o nd e t e r

m i n e s th e am o unto f

th e c l i e nt ’ s aw ar d . In Bergen v . Comm’r of Soc. Se c. , 454 F.3d 1273 ( 11th Cir. 2006), we sug g ested the be st practice for a voiding c onfusion about the integration of F ed. R. Civ. P. 54(d)(2)(B ) into the proce dural framework of

a fe e aw ard unde r 42 U.S.C. § 406 is for a plaintiff to reque st and the district court to include in the re mand judgment a stateme nt that attorneys fee s may be applied f

or within a specifie d time after

the deter mination of the plaintiff’s pa st due bene fits by the Commiss ion. 4 5 4 F . 3 d at1 2 7 8 n . 2 . A s w e un d e r s t an d i t , h o w e v e r , th e b e s tp r a c t i c e h a s n o tb e e na un i v e r s a l l yworka ble solution. P erha

ps another vehicle for

cre atingsome much nee ded certainty in this area of thelaw i s f

or thedis tric t c ourt s to fa sh ion a g e ne ral orde r o r a

loc a l r ulepe rm itt ingdis tric twi dea pp lic atio n o f a

un ivers a l proc e ss f

or se e kin gfe e s und e r t

he seun iqu e c irc ums tanc e . It is our hope thedistrict courts, in doing so, w ill keep in mind Congre ss’s intent behind § 40 6(b) , to encourag e attorne y s to repre sent Social Security claimants. See Bergen , 454 F.3d at 1276. 2 C y nt hi a R . B l i t c h’ s a t t or ne y a ppe a l s t he di s t r i c tc our t ’ s de ni a l of hi s pe t i t i on f o ra tto r n e y ’s f

e e s a f te rh is c lie n t, B litc h , w a s a w a r d e d p a s t- d u e S o c ia l S e c u r ity di s a bi l i t y be ne f

i t s . T he f

e e pe t i t i on w a s br oughtpur s ua ntt o 42 U . S . C . § 406( b) ( 1) of t he S oc i a l S e c ur i t y A c ta nd di s m i s s e d by t he di s t r i c tc our ta s t i m e ba r r e d by F e de r a l R ul e of

C i vi l P r oc e dur e 54( d) ( 2) ( B ) . O n a ppe a l , A ppe l l a nta r gue s t he d is tr ic t c o u r t s h o u ld n o t h a v e d is m is s e d th e p e titio n f o ra tto r n e y ’s f

e e s a s u n tim e ly beca use the C om m i ss i on erdi d n otobj ec tt o t he t i m el i ness of t he pet i t i on . In a d d itio n , h e a r g u e s h is a c tio n s w e r e r e a s o n a b le u n d e rth e c ir c u m s ta n c e s . A f te rr e v ie w in g th e b r ie f

s a n d r e c o r d , a n d w ith th e b e n e f it o f o r a l a r g u m e n t, w e c on cl ud e, un der the confusi ng ci rc um st ance s of thi s c as e, t he di stri ctcourt a b u s e d its d is c r e tio n , se e A C L U v. B arnes , 16 8 F . 3d 42 3, 42 7 (11 t h C i r. 19 99 ), be c a us e t he a t t or ne y ’ s a c t i ons w e r e r e a s ona bl e . T he r e f or e , w e va c a t e a nd r e m a nd 13

w i t h i nst ruct i on s f

or t he di stri ctcourtt o d et er m i ne t he fe es ow ed t o t he at t orney u n d e r§ 4 0 6 ( b ) o f

th e S o c ia l S e c u r ity A c t. VA C A TED A N D R EM A N D ED