Caroline Lee v. Frank Bisignano, Commissioner of Social Security

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

10 11 CAROLINE LEE, Case No. 2:20-cv-0662-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. 33. 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. 33-2 at 1. After this court remanded for further proceedings, plaintiff was found disabled and awarded $126,928 in past-due benefits. ECF No. 33-1 at 1. Plaintiff’s counsel requests $26,616.25 in attorney fees, which is less than the statutory maximum, and which equates to an effective hourly rate of $879.88. ECF No. 33 at 4. 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…