Opinion
No. 03:13-cv-01169-HU
06-25-2014
STEPHEN J. KNIFTON, Plaintiff, v. CAROLYN W. COLVIN, Commissioner of Social Security, Defendant.
Robyn M. Rebers Robyn M. Rebers LLC Attorney for Plaintiff S. Amanda Marshall United States Attorney Ronald K. Silver Assistant United States Attorney David Morado Regional Chief Counsel, Region X, Seattle Carol A. Hoch Special Assistant United States Attorney Office of the General Counsel Social Security Administration Attorneys for Defendant
ORDER FOR EAJA FEES
Robyn M. Rebers
Robyn M. Rebers LLC
Attorney for Plaintiff S. Amanda Marshall
United States Attorney
Ronald K. Silver
Assistant United States Attorney
David Morado
Regional Chief Counsel, Region X, Seattle
Carol A. Hoch
Special Assistant United States Attorney
Office of the General Counsel
Social Security Administration
Attorneys for Defendant BROWN, United States District Judge:
In this case, the plaintiff Stephen J. Knifton sought judicial review of the Commissioner's decision denying his application for Supplemental Security Income benefits under Title XVI of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1381 et seq. The administrative record was a very short 276 pages. Knifton filed a sixteen-page opening brief, raising two assertions of error by the Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ"). The brief apparently generated negotiations between the parties, who subsequently filed a stipulated motion for sentence four remand, addressing all of Knifton's concerns regarding the ALJ's decision. I granted the motion, and remanded the case.
The parties have filed a stipulated motion requesting an award of $3,048.43 in fees for Knifton's attorney Robyn M. Rebers, pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act ("EAJA"), 28 U.S.C. § 2412, subject to any offset as described in Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 130 S. Ct. 2521, 177 L. Ed. 2d 91 (2010). Ms. Rebers has submitted time records indicating she expended a total of 16.3 hours on this case, which I note is fewer than the twenty-to-forty-hour range Judge Mosman found to be a "reasonable amount of time to spend on a social security case that does not present particular difficulty." Harden v. Comm'r, 497 F. Supp. 2d 1214, 1215 (D. Or. 2007) (noting "some consensus among the district courts" on this point; citing cases).
Adjusting the EAJA statutory fee of $125 per hour using the Ninth Circuit's formula for cost-of-living adjustments, see Nadarajah v. Holder, 569 F.3d 906, 918 (9th Cir. 2009) (citing Thangaraja v. Gonzales, 428 F.3d 870, 876-77 (9th Cir. 2005)); Jones v. Espy, 10 F.3d 690, 692-93 (9th Cir. 1993); the EAJA- adjusted hourly rate for 2013 is $187.02, and for May 2014 Is $188.04. Multiplying counsel's hours for the respective years results in attorney fees of $261.83 for 2013 (1.40 x $187.02), and $2,801.80 for 2014 (14.9 x $188.04), for a total of $3,063.63 for both years (i.e., $15.20 less than the amount to which the parties have stipulated).
I find that the stipulated fee of $3, 048.43 is reasonable under the circumstances, and grant the parties' motion. Knifton is awarded the sum of $3,048.43 in attorney's fees under the EAJA. If Knifton's EAJA fees are not subject to any offset allowed under the Department of the Treasury's Offset Program pursuant to Ratliff, then the check for EAJA fees shall be made payable to Knifton's attorney Robyn M. Rebers, based on Knifton's assignment of such fees to his attorney. See Dkt. #19-1, p. 2. Any check for EAJA fees shall be mailed directly to Knifton's attorney Robyn Rebers at P.O. Box 3530, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
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ANNA J. BROWN
United States District Judge