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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS

SAN ANTONIO DIVISION

LUIS EDGARDO MARTINEZ-NIEVES,

 Plaintiff,

vs.

ANDREW SAUL, SOCIAL SECURITY 

COMMISSIONER;

 Defendant.

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SA-20-CV-00538-ESC

ORDER

This order concerns Plaintiff’s Motion for Attorney’s Fees Pursuant to the Equal Access 

to Justice Act [#19]. Plaintiff has also filed a Memorandum in support of the motion [#20]. By 

his motion, Plaintiff asks the Court to award him attorney’s fees pursuant to the Equal Access to 

Justice Act (“EAJA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(a), as the “prevailing party” in the above-styled cause of 

action. The EAJA provides a mandatory attorney’s fee award for a prevailing party that meets 

certain financial eligibility requirements. Baker v. Bowen, 839 F.2d 1075, 1079–80 (5th Cir. 

1988). Once the plaintiff establishes these facts, the government must pay attorney’s fees unless 

it is able to prove that its position was substantially justified or special circumstances make an 

award unjust. Id.

The record reflects that on March 5, 2021, the Court granted the Commissioner’s 

unopposed motion to remand for further administrative proceedings [#17]. That same day, the 

Court issued a Final Judgment vacating the Commissioner’s administrative determination finding 

Plaintiff not disabled and remanding this case for further proceedings pursuant to sentence four 

of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) [#18]. The Fifth Circuit has held that a party who obtains a remand in a 

social security appeal pursuant to the fourth sentence of § 405(g) qualifies as a prevailing party 

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for purposes of fees under the EAJA. Breaux v. U.S.D.H.H.S., 20 F.3d 1324, 1324 (5th Cir. 

1994) (per curiam). 

Plaintiff has requested fees in the amount of $5,868.50 and expenses in the amount of 

$17.25. In support of the instant motion, Plaintiff’s counsel has submitted an itemization of the 

hours he spent representing Plaintiff in this case before the Court. According to Plaintiff, his 

attorney has spent a total of 25 hours on this case at a rate of $203.94 per hour and the paralegal 

assisting his attorney spent a total 7.7 hours at a rate of $100.00 per hour. The Commissioner 

has filed a response to the motion [#21], which indicates he is not opposed to Plaintiff’s fee 

request. 

Having reviewed the motion and the record in this case, and in light of the lack of 

opposition on the part of the Commissioner, the Court finds that Plaintiff is entitled to an award 

of attorney’s fees under the EAJA as the prevailing party in this case, and the Court will grant 

Plaintiff’s motion.

IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Motion for Attorney’s Fees Pursuant 

to the Equal Access to Justice Act [#19] is GRANTED.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff is awarded $5,885.75 in attorney’s fees and 

expenses pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), made payable to 

Plaintiff and mailed to Plaintiff’s counsel at his address on record. 

SIGNED this 4th day of June, 2021.

ELIZABETH S. ("BETSY") CHESTNEY

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

Case 5:20-cv-00538-ESC Document 22 Filed 06/04/21 Page 2 of 2