Filed: Sep. 22, 2017
Latest Update: Sep. 22, 2017
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) (Doc. No. 25) FILED: September 19, 2017 Plaintiff, Pia D. Lyons, seeks an award of attorney's fees pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act ("EAJA"), 28 U.S.C.
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) (Doc. No. 25) FILED: September 19, 2017 Plaintiff, Pia D. Lyons, seeks an award of attorney's fees pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act ("EAJA"), 28 U.S.C. ..
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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) (Doc. No. 25)
FILED: September 19, 2017
Plaintiff, Pia D. Lyons, seeks an award of attorney's fees pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act ("EAJA"), 28 U.S.C. § 2412. A final judgment reversing the decision below was entered on June 21, 2017. Doc. No. 23. Counsel for Plaintiff represents that the Commissioner does not object to the relief requested. Doc. No. 24, at 3. Thus, the motion is now ripe for consideration.
Plaintiff through Shea A. Fugate, Esq., her counsel of record, seeks an award of $5,470.40 in EAJA fees. Id. at 1. The fee request covers 28.4 hours of work performed by Ms. Fugate in 2016 and 2017. Id.
The EAJA sets a ceiling of $125.001 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 $192.62 for work performed by her in 2016 and 2017. Doc. No. 24-1, at 2-3. Independent calculations show that the average adjusted hourly rates for 2016 and 2017 are $192.692 and $195.953, respectively. Based on the cost-of-living adjustment, the rates requested for 2016 and 2017 do not exceed the EAJA cap of $125.00 per hour adjusted for inflation. Therefore, I recommend that the Court approve those hourly rates in the absence of objection.
I also find that the total number of hours worked is reasonable in the absence of objection.
Accordingly, it is RESPECTFULLY RECOMMENDED that Plaintiff's Unopposed Motion for Award of Attorney Fees Pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act (Doc. No. 24) be GRANTED, and that the Court ORDER the Commissioner to pay Plaintiff attorney's fees in the amount of $5,470.40.4
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.
