James Herron v. Carolyn W. Colvin

MEMORANDUM

Social Security benefits claimant, James Y. Herron, appeals the district court’s denial of his application for attorney’s fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412 (a)(1). We reverse and remand.

We review a district court’s denial of attorney’s fees under the EAJA for abuse of discretion. See Pierce v. Underwood, 487 U.S. 552, 559 , 108 S.Ct. 2541 , 101 L.Ed.2d 490 (1988); Corbin v. Apfel, 149 F.3d 1051, 1052 (9th Cir.1998). The district court abuses its discretion when its “decision is based on an erroneous conclusion of law or when the record contains no evidence on which it rationally could have based that decision.” Kali v. Bowen, 854 F.2d 329, 331 (9th Cir.1988) (internal quotation marks and alteration omitted).

Attorney’s fees “shall” be granted under the EAJA to a prevailing plaintiff “unless” the government meets its burden to demonstrate that both (a) its litigation position and (b) the agency decision on review were “substantially justified.” 28 U.S.C. § 2412 (d)(1)(A); Thangaraja v. Gonzales, 428 F.3d 870, 874 (9th Cir.2005). There is no dispute that Herron prevailed on the merits of the case. Therefore, we determine whether the…