NOT FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

SANYA LEE MEMBE,

Plaintiff

- Appellant,

v.

KILOLO KIJAKAZI, Acting Commissioner of Social Security,

Defendant

- Appellee. No. 22

- 35152

D.C. No. 6:20

- cv

- 00896

- MK

MEMORANDUM *

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Oregon Mustafa T. Kasubhai, Magistrate Judge, Presiding

Submitted February 7, 2023 * * Portland, Oregon

Before: M. SMITH, FORREST, and SUNG, Circuit Judges.

Plaintiff

- Appellant Sanya Lee Membe appeals the partial den ial of her

application for fees under the Equal Access to Justic e Act (EAJA) , 28 U.S.C.

§ 2412(d). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291

, and we affirm.

* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36

- 3.

** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). 

# FILED

FEB 17 2023

MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS2

A district court “always retain[s] substantial discretion in fixing the amount

of an EAJA award,” Comm’r , INS v. Jean , 496 U.S. 154, 163 (1990), given “the

district court’s superior understanding of the litigation and the desirability of

avoiding frequent appellate review of what essentially are factual matters.” Hensley

v. Eckerhart , 461 U.S. 424, 437 (1983)

. We review the district court’s decision for

abuse of discretion , which occurs wh en the district court applies an incorrect legal

standard or its application of the correct standard is “illogical, implausible or without

support in inferences that may be drawn from the facts in the record.” Meier v.

Colvin , 727 F.3d 867, 869

– 70 (9th Cir. 2013).

Because the district court in this case reduce d the number of hours for which

it awarded fees by 20 to 25 percent, it was required to explain its reasoning with

specifi city. See Moreno v. City of Sacramento , 534 F.3d 1106, 111 1

– 1 2 (9th Cir.

2008). In doing so, district court s should examine case

- specific factors including the

record size, procedural history, issue complexity, and when counsel was retained.

Costa v. Comm ’ r of Soc. Sec. Admin. , 690 F.3d 1132, 1136 (9th Cir. 2012).

Here, t he district court adequately explained its reasoning and did not abuse

its discretion

. It was not illogical for the judge to rely on his experience and

familiarity with the litigation in c oncluding that the record size was not abnormal 1

1 T he district court’s reference to the record being “approximately 1,700 pages” might have been a scrivener’s error , but regardless, it was harmless error.3

or that the issues in the case are familiar because they “are frequently litigated

. ” Nor

was it error to decline to survey hours found reasonable in other cases or cite

nonbinding case law. See Costa , 690 F.3d at 1136 ( questioning the usefulness of

surveying other cases to decide reasonableness of hours spent on a matter ). In sum,

t he district court sufficiently explained that it exclud ed 20 hours from its calculation

because the issues presented were not complex, counsel was experienced and

knowledgeable, and the record was not abnormally long

. 2

AFFIRMED.

Membe primarily alleged that the ALJ erred at step three and does not argue that
her case involved is sues requiring detailed review of all, or even most

, o f the record.

2 We deny t he Commissioner ’s request that we take judicial notice of the EAJA database maintained by the Administrative Conference of the United States. ECF
No. 17. T he database is not relevant to our decision

. See S anta Monica Food Not Bombs v. City of Santa Monica , 450 F.3d 1022, 1025 n.2. (9th Cir. 2006) (declining to take judicial notice of documents irrelevant to resolution of the appeal)

. However,

we grant the Co mmissioner’s request that we take judicial notice of district court orders issued after this appeal was filed , ECF No. 34

, as these dispositions are
relevant to understanding the full pr ocedural history of this case

. See Reyn ’ s Pasta Bella, LLC v. Visa USA , Inc. , 442 F.3d 741, 746 n.6 (9th Cir. 2006)

.