(SS) Ochoa v. Commissioner of Social Security

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

10 11 RAFAEL BARRAGAN OCHOA, Case No. 1:19-cv-01686-JDP (SS) 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 LELAND DUDEK, Commissioner of Social Security, Defendant. 17 Plaintiff’s counsel seeks an award of attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b). ECF No. 25. Plaintiff entered into a contingent fee agreement providing that he would pay counsel twenty- five percent of any award of past-due benefits. ECF No. 25-2 at 1-2. After this court remanded for further proceedings, plaintiff was found disabled and awarded $112,063.00 in past-due benefits. ECF No. 25-1 at 2. Plaintiff’s counsel requests $27,979.40 in attorney fees, which is approximately the statutory maximum, and which equates to an effective hourly rate of $662.23. An attorney is entitled to reasonable fees for successfully representing social security claimants in district court. 26 27 1 Although the motion for fees was filed under plaintiff’s name, plaintiff’s counsel is the real party in interest. See Gisbrecht v. Barnhart, 535 U.S. 789,…