Filed: Oct. 04, 2018
Latest Update: Oct. 04, 2018
Summary: REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION KARLA R. SPAULDING , Magistrate Judge . TO THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT: This cause came on for consideration without oral argument on the following motion filed herein: MOTION: UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR AWARD OF ATTORNEY FEES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. 2412(d) AND CONSENT TO MAGISTRATE JURISDICTION (Doc. No. 22) FILED: September 27, 2018 Plaintiff, Robert Woodrow Carnes, seeks an award of attorney's fees pursuant to the Equal Ac
Summary: REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION KARLA R. SPAULDING , Magistrate Judge . TO THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT: This cause came on for consideration without oral argument on the following motion filed herein: MOTION: UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR AWARD OF ATTORNEY FEES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. 2412(d) AND CONSENT TO MAGISTRATE JURISDICTION (Doc. No. 22) FILED: September 27, 2018 Plaintiff, Robert Woodrow Carnes, seeks an award of attorney's fees pursuant to the Equal Acc..
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REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
KARLA R. SPAULDING, Magistrate Judge.
TO THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT:
This cause came on for consideration without oral argument on the following motion filed herein:
MOTION: UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR AWARD OF ATTORNEY FEES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) AND CONSENT TO MAGISTRATE JURISDICTION (Doc. No. 22)
FILED: September 27, 2018
Plaintiff, Robert Woodrow Carnes, seeks an award of attorney's fees pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act ("EAJA"), 28 U.S.C. § 2412. An order reversing the decision below was entered on July 26, 2018, and final judgment issued on July 27, 2018. Doc. Nos. 20, 21. Counsel for Plaintiff represents that the Commissioner does not object to the relief requested. Doc. No. 22, at 2. The motion was referred to me for issuance for a Report and Recommendation, and it is now ripe for consideration.1
Plaintiff through Shea A. Fugate, Esq., his counsel of record, seeks an award of $6,138.60 in EAJA fees. Doc. No. 22, at 1. The fee request covers 26.5 hours of work performed by Attorney Fugate in 2017 and 4.7 hours of work performed by her in 2018. Doc. No. 22-2, at 3-4.
The EAJA sets a ceiling of $125.00 2 on the hourly rate for which attorneys may be compensated under the statute, which courts may adjust upward based on changes in the Consumer Price Index ("CPI"). 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(2)(A). Based on calculations of the cost-of-living adjustment using the CPI, Attorney Fugate requests fees at the rate of $196.75 per hour for the work performed by her in 2017 and 2018. Doc. No. 22-1, at 3. She provides an analysis of the cost-of-living adjustment using the CPI. Id. at 2-3. Independent calculations show that the average adjusted hourly rates for 2017 and 2018 are $196.783 and $200.78,4 respectively.
Based on the cost-of-living adjustment, the rate requested by Attorney Fugate does not exceed the EAJA cap of $125.00 per hour adjusted for inflation. Therefore, I recommend that the Court approve the requested hourly rate in the absence of objection. I also recommend that the Court find the total number of hours worked by Attorney Fugate to be reasonable in the absence of objection.
Finally, I note that Plaintiff signed a document in which he assigned any fees awarded under the EAJA to his counsel. Doc. No. 22-3. Plaintiff represents that the Commissioner will accept Plaintiff's assignment of EAJA fees and pay fees directly to Plaintiff's counsel, assuming that the U.S. Department of the Treasury determines that Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt. Doc. No. 22, at 2. Because the Commissioner has taken inconsistent positions regarding whether she will honor such an assignment, I recommend that the Court not require that the EAJA fees be paid directly to Plaintiff's counsel but permit the Commissioner to do so in her discretion.
Accordingly, I RESPECTFULLY RECOMMEND that the Court GRANT in part Plaintiff's Unopposed Motion for Award of Attorney Fees Pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) (Doc. No. 22) and that the Court ORDER the Commissioner to pay Plaintiff attorney's fees in the amount of $6,138.60.5
NOTICE TO PARTIES
A party has fourteen days from this date to file written objections to the Report and Recommendation's factual findings and legal conclusions. A party's failure to file written objections waives that party's right to challenge on appeal any unobjected-to factual finding or legal conclusion the district judge adopts from the Report and Recommendation. See 11th Cir. R. 3-1.
