Norman George Lambert v. Frank Bisignano, Commissioner of Social Security

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

10 11 NORMAN GEORGE LAMBERT, Case No. 2:23-cv-1814-JDP (SS) 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 FRANK BISIGNANO, Commissioner of Social Security, Defendant. 17 Plaintiff’s counsel seeks an award of attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b). ECF No. 16. 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. 16-3 at 1. After this court remanded for further proceedings, plaintiff was found disabled and awarded $116,664 in past-due benefits. ECF No. 16-1 at 3. Plaintiff’s counsel requests $19,950 in attorney fees, which is less than the statutory maximum, and which equates to an effective hourly rate of $820.98. ECF No. 16 at 4. 24

1 Although the motion for fees was filed under plaintiff’s name, plaintiff’s counsel is the 26 real party in interest. See Gisbrecht v. Barnhart, 535 U.S. 789, 798 n.6 (2002). 2 Plaintiff states that the attorney who represented him at the administrative level is…