The Board summarily affirmed the Director's award. See Omnibus Consolidated Rescissions and Appropriations Act of 1996, Pub. We review the Board's decision using the same standard of review which the Board applies to the Director's decision. Mr. Moyer first asserts a property interest in the gross number of hours billed and in the amount of the fee his client agreed to pay him under the terms of their contract. He claims that he was deprived of this interest without due process, because the Director did not notify him that his billing would be reduced, nor did she allow him to submit additional materials before any reduction was made.
Attorneys seeking to obtain fees without approval are subject to a fine and imprisonment.
We agree with the Fourth Circuit that an attorney who must seek regulatory approval of the reasonableness of his fee has a property interest only in a reasonable fee, not in the amount specified in a fee contract. Second, Mr. Moyer received all the process which was due. The Eighth Circuit has upheld, against a similar procedural due process challenge, a nearly identical process for obtaining fee approval in Social Security benefit cases. For similar reasons to those stated in Copaken, Mr. Moyer's due process challenge fails. Mr. Moyer next contends that the Director's stated rationale was inadequate to support the reductions she made.