Case Name: Catherine G. RATLIFF, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Michael J. ASTRUE, Commissioner of Social Security, Defendant-Appellee
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2008-09-05
Citations: 540 F.3d 800
Docket Number: No. 07-2317
Parties: Catherine G. RATLIFF, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Michael J. ASTRUE, Commissioner of Social Security, Defendant-Appellee.
Judges: Before MELLOY, GRUENDER, and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges.
Reporter: Federal Reporter 3d Series
Volume: 540
Pages: 800–805

Head Matter:
Catherine G. RATLIFF, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Michael J. ASTRUE, Commissioner of Social Security, Defendant-Appellee.
No. 07-2317.
United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.
Submitted: Feb. 15, 2008.
Filed: Sept. 5, 2008.
James D. Leach, argued, Rapid City, SD, for appellant.
Michael E. Robinson, argued, U.S. DOJ, Washington, DC, Cheryl Schrempp Dupris, AUSA, on the brief, Pierre, SD, Wayne M. Stanley, Spec. AUSA, SSA, Denver, CO, and Deanna R. Ertl-Lombardi, Regional Chief Counsel, SSA, Denver, CO, for appellee.
Before MELLOY, GRUENDER, and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
MELLOY, Circuit Judge.
Plaintiff Catherine G. Ratliff, an attorney, appeals from a district court judgment allowing the government to offset an award of attorney's fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(b), against debts her clients owe the federal government. Based on controlling Eighth Circuit precedent, we conclude that attorneys' fees awarded under the EAJA are awarded to the prevailing parties' attorneys, rather than to the parties themselves, and therefore cannot be used to offset the parties' debts to the government. Thus, we reverse the judgment of the district court.
I.
Ratliff successfully represented two claimants in their efforts to receive benefits from the Social Security Administration. She then moved for the award of fees and costs under the EAJA. The court granted the fees. The government reduced the fee award because of debts the claimants owed the United States government. Ratliff alleged this was an illegal seizure prohibited by the Fourth Amendment. The district court determined that because the fees were awarded to the parties, not their attorney, Ratliff lacked standing to challenge the government's offset.
II.
We review the district court's judgment de novo. Emergency Med. Servs., Inc. v. St. Paul Mercury Iñs. Co., 495 F.3d 999, 1009 (8th Cir.2007) (reviewing de novo the district court's interpretation of a fee-shifting statute); Jones v. Gale, 470 F.3d 1261, 1265 (8th Cir.2006) ("We review the district court's conclusion that the plaintiffs had standing de novo.").
Based on controlling Eighth Circuit precedent, we conclude that the attorney's fees in this case are awarded to the parties' attorney. We recognize that many courts have reached the opposite conclusion. See Reeves v. Astrue, 526 F.3d 732, 733 (11th Cir.2008) (concluding in a social security EAJA case that "the statute unambiguously grants an award to the 'prevailing party' " and thus "holdfing] the award belongs, in the first instance, to the party and not the party's attorney"); Manning v. Astrue, 510 F.3d 1246, 1249-50 (10th Cir.2007) (holding that under the plain language of the EAJA, the government can offset attorney's fees by the social-security claimant's debt); FDL Techs., Inc. v. United States, 967 F.2d 1578, 1580 (Fed.Cir.1992) (noting the EAJA provides fees are awarded "to a prevailing party, not the prevailing party's attorney," and "[t]hus, under the language of the statute, the prevailing party, and not its attorney, is entitled to receive the fee award"); Panola Land Buying Ass'n v. Clark, 844 F.2d 1506, 1510 (11th Cir.1988) (noting in an EAJA case that "[i]n employing the 'prevailing party' language, Congress recognized that throughout our history litigation costs generally have been awarded to the prevailing party"). Were we deciding this case in the first instance, we may well agree with our sister circuits and be persuaded by a literal interpretation of the EAJA, providing that "a court may award reasonable fees and expenses of attorneys . to the prevailing party." 28 U.S.C. § 2412(b) (emphasis added).
However, case law from this circuit compels a contrary conclusion. In Curtis v. City of Des Moines, 995 F.2d 125, 129 (8th Cir.1993), we held that EAJA attorneys are entitled to fees awards; thus, the fees could not be recovered by a third-party judgment creditor of the plaintiff. This also holds true if the judgment creditor is the government. United States v. McPeck, 910 F.2d 509, 514 (8th Cir.1990). In McPeck, we remanded and directed the bankruptcy court to "determine whether attorneys' fees can be awarded" under the Internal Revenue Code and, if so, specifically directed that "the award of attorneys' fees should be assessed affirmatively against the [government], and not as an offset against its tax claim." Id. Applying Curtis and McPeck, we hold EAJA fee awards become the property of the prevailing party's attorney when assessed and may not be used to offset the claimant's debt. See also Marre v. United States, 117 F.3d 297, 304 (5th Cir.1997) (holding the government cannot offset attorneys' fees in an EAJA case because "the prevailing party is only nominally the person who receives the award; the real party in interest vis-á-vis attorneys' fees awarded under the statute are the attorneys themselves").
III.
Because we hold EAJA attorneys' fees are awarded to prevailing parties' attorneys, we find that Ratliff has standing to bring an independent action to collect the fees and that the government's withholding of the fee awards to cover the claimants' debts was in violation of the Fourth Amendment. We reverse the judgment of the district court and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.