Source: http://ok.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.20180608_0000578.WOK.htm/qx
Timestamp: 2018-11-22 11:14:29
Document Index: 265922051

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 406', '§ 405', '§ 2412', '§ 406', 'art, 450', '§ 406', '§ 406']

JOHN B. GRAHAM, Plaintiff,
Now before the Court is Plaintiff John B. Graham's Motion for Attorney Fees Under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b) (Doc. No. 31), filed through Plaintiff's counsel Kyle Saunders.
On September 30, 2016, the Court entered a Judgment reversing the Acting Commissioner's decision denying Plaintiff's applications for disability insurance benefits (“DIB”) and supplemental security income (“SSI”) and remanding the case for further administrative proceedings under the fourth sentence of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). See J. (Doc. No. 23) at 1. On January 25, 2018, the Social Security Administration issued a “favorable” decision on Plaintiff's DIB and SSI applications and found Plaintiff disabled as of April 30, 2009. Pl.'s Mot. Att'y Fees at 2; Pl.'s Mot. Att'y Fees Ex. 1 (Doc. No. 31-1) at 1, 14. The Acting Commissioner has notified Plaintiff of $96, 188.00 in past-due benefits and that, pursuant to Plaintiff's fee agreement with counsel, up to $24, 047.00 of his withheld benefits can be applied toward his attorney's fees. See Pl.'s Mot. Att'y Fees Ex. 2 (Doc. No. 31-2) at 3, 4; Pl.'s Br. Ex. 1 (Doc. No. 32-1) at 1-2 (contingent-fee contract between Plaintiff and his counsel prescribing that if Plaintiff is awarded benefits after a remand from federal court, the attorney's fee “for representation before the court” shall be the greater of (i) 25 percent “of the past-due benefits resulting from” Plaintiff's claim or (ii) any fee awarded pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412).
As for Plaintiff's counsel's current request for $18, 000.00 in fees, the Acting Commissioner has responded that she takes no position on this request. See Def.'s Resp. (Doc. No. 33) at 2. The Acting Commissioner correctly notes, however, that the Court previously awarded $6026.60 in attorney's fees pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act, so if fees are now awarded pursuant to § 406(b) Plaintiff's counsel must refund the lesser award to Plaintiff. See id.; Am. Order of Mar. 2, 2017 (Doc. No. 2) at 1-2; McGraw v. Barnhart, 450 F.3d 493, 497 & n.2 (10th Cir. 2006).
Having carefully reviewed the parties' submissions, the Court finds that an award of $18, 000.00, which is approximately 18.5% of the past-due benefits awarded, is a reasonable fee award for the work performed in this case in view of the contingent nature of the representation, the applicable attorney-fee agreement, and the results achieved. While before the Court, Mr. Saunders filed a detailed opening brief, presenting several well-supported arguments that the administrative law judge erred in denying Plaintiff's DIB and SSI claims. See Doc. No. 15. The Acting Commissioner filed a brief in opposition, which Mr. Saunders was required to review. See Doc. No. 21; Pl.'s Mot. Att'y Fees Ex. 3 (Doc. No. 31-3) at 1. Mr. Saunders represents that he spent 31.70 hours litigating Plaintiff's disability case in federal court (not including time spent on attorney-fee issues), which would result in an effective hourly rate of $567.82 with respect to the requested § 406(b) fee. See Pl.'s Mot. Att'y Fees Ex. 3, at 2; Pl.'s Br. (Doc. No. 32) at 11-14; see Gisbrecht, 535 U.S. at 793, 808 (rejecting the “lodestar” method of calculating fee awards under § 406(b) but noting that the district court may consider the hours spent and other factors in contingency-fee cases to help assess “the reasonableness of the fee yielded by the fee agreement”); cf. Harlan v. Colvin, No. CIV-13-477-D, 2015 WL 9295809, at *1 (W.D. Okla. Dec. 18, 2015) (awarding $17, 429.22 where the putative rate was between $517.95 and $632.64 per hour). Plaintiff and Mr. Saunders agreed that the latter may collect attorney's fees for representation before the Court for an amount greater than the currently pending request. See Pl.'s Br. Ex. 1, at 1-2.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Accordingly, the Plaintiff&#39;s Motion for Attorney Fees (Doc. No. 31) is GRANTED to the following extent. Plaintiff&#39;s attorney Mr. Kyle Saunders is awarded attorney&#39;s fees in the amount of $18, 000.00, to be paid out of the past-due benefits Plaintiff received by reason of the remand and favorable decision in this case. See 42 U.S.C. 406(b)(1)(A). The Social Security Administration shall pay this amount directly to: Kyle Saunders of Saunders & Saunders, P.O. Box 1605, Ada, Oklahoma, 74820. Mr. Saunders shall promptly refund ...