SOCIAL SECURITY APPEAL

CHARLES H. WEIGLE, Magistrate Judge.

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Before the Court is an application for attorney's fees filed by Plaintiff Latassie Hurt. Doc. 19. On remand from this Court, Plaintiff was awarded a total sum of $69,685.00 in past-due benefits from the Commissioner. Doc.19-1, p. 4. Plaintiff's Counsel now seeks to recover $4,480.00 for his 22.4 hours, at $200 per hour, worked in this action. Doc. 19, p. 1; Doc. 19-2, pp. 1-2. The Commissioner has submitted a brief and does not oppose Plaintiff's request for fees. Doc. 20. For the following reasons, it is RECOMMENDED that Plaintiff's Motion for Attorney's Fees (Doc. 19), totaling $4,480.00, be GRANTED.

LEGAL STANDARD

In Social Security cases, prevailing parties may be awarded attorney's fees as part of the judgment, not in excess of "[twenty-five percent] of the total of the past-due benefits to which the claimant is entitled by reason of such judgment." 42 U.S.C. § 406(b)(1)(A); Hosley v. Colvin, No. 5:09-CV-379 (MTT), 2016 WL 7394532, at *1 (M.D. Ga. Dec. 21, 2016). Attorney's fees pursuant to § 406(b) may be awarded "where the district court remands the case to the Commissioner of Social Security for further proceedings, and the Commissioner on remand awards the claimant past-due benefits." Bergen v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec., 454 F.3d 1273, 1277 (11th Cir. 2006).

Attorney's fees under § 406(b) do not displace contingent-fee agreements between attorneys and plaintiffs, but "§ 406(b) calls for court review of such arrangements as an independent check, to assure that they yield reasonable results in particular cases." Gisbrecht, 535 U.S. at 807; Garland v. Colvin, No. 5:12-CV-509 (MTT), 2016 WL 1181699, at *2 (M.D. Ga. Mar. 25, 2016). Before granting a motion for attorney's fees, a court must determine the "reasonableness of the fee requested" and may request the counsel to submit "a record of the hours spent representing the claimant and a statement of the lawyer's normal hourly billing charge for noncontingent-fee cases." Gisbrecht, 535 U.S. at 808. Courts may also review the character of the representation and the results achieved. Id.; Garland, 2016 WL 1181699, at *2. In the absence of a contingent-fee agreement, courts apply a fee calculation method called a "lodestar" method where the number of hours reasonably devoted to each case is multiplied by a reasonable hourly fee. See Gisbrecht, 535 U.S. at 797.

On February 6, 2015, judgment was entered for Plaintiff in this Court with instructions to remand for further proceedings. Doc. 16. On remand, Plaintiff's application was granted and Plaintiff was awarded a sum of $69,685.00 for past-due benefits. Doc. 19-1, p. 4. Twenty-five percent, or $17,421.25, was withheld from Plaintiff's past-due benefits for the possible payment of Plaintiff's attorney's fees. Doc. 19-1, p. 4.

Plaintiff's Counsel has presented an affidavit to the Court stating he recorded 22.4 hours rendering services for this case. Doc. 19; Doc. 19-2, pp. 1-2. Upon review of Counsel's "Schedule of Time Spent" exhibit (Doc. 19-2), the Court finds that Counsel's hours spent working on Plaintiff's case were reasonable. Counsel has also stated he has been admitted to practice law in the State of Georgia since 1986 and that for the last twenty-five years his primary practice has been in Social Security law. Doc. 19, p. 3. Because Plaintiff's claim for benefits was initially denied, it is unlikely Plaintiff would have recovered the past-due benefits without the attorney's efforts in this Court. There is no evidence that Counsel was responsible for any undue delay in advocating for Plaintiff's benefits. Additionally, the submitted hourly rate, $200 per hour, is reasonable for an attorney with similar experience. Because no contingent fee is present, the Court must multiply Counsel's reasonable hours worked by Counsel's submitted reasonable rate. See Gisbrecht, 535 U.S. at 797.

Accordingly, the attorney's fee Counsel requests is reasonable and represents a fee that is less than twenty-five percent of the money withheld to pay for attorney's fees. This fee would not result in an unreasonable windfall for Counsel, therefore, it is RECOMMENDED that the requested fee of $4,480.00 be GRANTED.

SO RECOMMENDED.