Filed: Mar. 19, 2020
Latest Update: Mar. 19, 2020
Summary: ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION FOR ATTORNEY'S FEES (ECF No. 23) ANDREW G. SCHOPLER , District Judge . On January 29, 2020, the Court granted the parties' joint motion to remand this case to the Social Security Administration under 42 U.S.C. 405(g), sentence four. (ECF No. 21.) The parties now jointly move, under the Equal Access to Justice Act, for an order awarding plaintiff $3,100 in attorney's fees. (ECF No. 23, at 1.) DISCUSSION "Under EAJA, a litigant is entitled to attorney's fees a
Summary: ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION FOR ATTORNEY'S FEES (ECF No. 23) ANDREW G. SCHOPLER , District Judge . On January 29, 2020, the Court granted the parties' joint motion to remand this case to the Social Security Administration under 42 U.S.C. 405(g), sentence four. (ECF No. 21.) The parties now jointly move, under the Equal Access to Justice Act, for an order awarding plaintiff $3,100 in attorney's fees. (ECF No. 23, at 1.) DISCUSSION "Under EAJA, a litigant is entitled to attorney's fees an..
More
ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION FOR ATTORNEY'S FEES
(ECF No. 23)
ANDREW G. SCHOPLER, District Judge.
On January 29, 2020, the Court granted the parties' joint motion to remand this case to the Social Security Administration under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), sentence four. (ECF No. 21.) The parties now jointly move, under the Equal Access to Justice Act, for an order awarding plaintiff $3,100 in attorney's fees. (ECF No. 23, at 1.)
DISCUSSION
"Under EAJA, a litigant is entitled to attorney's fees and costs if: (1) [s]he is the prevailing party, (2) the government fails to show that its position was substantially justified or that special circumstances make an award unjust; and (3) the requested fees and costs are reasonable." Carbonell v. INS, 429 F.3d 894, 898 (9th Cir. 2005) (citing 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(1)(A)).
Plaintiff satisfies all three elements. "A sentence-four remand, of course, is a judgment for the plaintiff." Shalala v. Schaefer, 509 U.S. 292, 302 (1993). Defendant has offered no argument that its position was substantially justified or that an award of fees would be unjust. (See ECF No. 23.) And plaintiff's counsel's rate of $200.78 for 13.8 hours (see ECF No. 25, at 2) is both below the 2019 EAJA rate of $205.25 and represents a reasonable amount of time expended in this case.
CONCLUSION
For good cause shown, the joint motion for attorney's fees is GRANTED.
