Opinion ID: 771937
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: argument specific to miller

Text: 17 Finally, Plaintiffs argue that the Miller court failed to explain its conclusions adequately.Finally, Plaintiffs argue that the Miller court failed to explain its conclusions adequately. Plaintiffs rely in part on Jordan v. Multnomah County, 815 F.2d 1258, 1263 (9th Cir. 1987), which reversed an award of attorney fees because the record contained no basis for the amount awarded. Ralph Wilborn made the same argument in Widrig. See 140 F.3d at 1210. In rejecting the argument, the Widrig court gave some guidance as to how detailed a district court's order must be: 18 However, unlike Jordan, the district court in the instant cases did make findings regarding the sufficiency of the evidence submitted by appellants and explained the reasons for its conclusions. The court found that the Johnson and Brewer affidavits were insufficient to support an hourly rate of $200. In Widrig's case, it also reasoned that counsel had recently been awarded fees at an hourly rate of $175, further justifying $175 as a reasonable lodestar rate. Thus, there was no abuse of discretion. 19 Id. 20 So too here. The magistrate judge found (1) that Plaintiffs' affidavits were insufficient to establish that their requested rate was the appropriate rate; (2) that the case was neither complex nor novel; (3) that the amount of time that Plaintiffshad expended on the case, while reasonable, was more than would be expected of practitioners claiming the right to increased hourly rates based on increased knowledge of and specialization in the social security area; and (4) that Tim and Ralph Wilborn recently had been awarded hourly fees of $125 and $150, respectively, in a Portland Social Security case. The district court adopted the magistrate judge's findings and recommendations, with some elaboration. 21 Thus, the district court's order, taken together with the magistrate judge's findings and recommendations, contained findings and explanations comparable to those that this court approved in Widrig. As in Widrig, we conclude that the order was sufficiently detailed. The district court did not abuse its discretion.