Sogomon Akopyan v. Jo Anne Barnhart, Commissioner of Social Security Administration

This case requires us to determine whether an order issued pursuant to the fourth sentence of 42 U.S.C. § 405 (g) can operate to terminate a previous remand order issued pursuant to the sixth sentence of the statute, thus constituting a final judgment for purposes of determining the timeliness of an attorneys’ fees petition brought pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act (“EAJA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2412 (d). We conclude that it can, and exercising jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , we affirm.

I. Introduction

42 U.S.C. § 405 (g) authorizes district courts to review administrative decisions in Social Security benefits cases. The first two sentences of Section 405(g) provide, in relevant part, that “[a]ny individual, after any final decision of the Commissioner of Social Security made after a hearing to which he was a party, irrespective of the amount in controversy, may obtain a review of such decision by a civil action ... brought in the district court of the United States for the judicial district in which the plaintiff resides.... ” The fourth and sixth sentences of Section 405(g) set forth the exclusive methods by which district courts may remand to the…