Laird

MEMORANDUM **

Appellant Charles Laird appeals the decision of the Benefits Review Board (“the Board”) affirming the attorney’s fees awarded him by the Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) and District Director (“DD”) pursuant to the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (“LHWCA”), 33 U.S.C. §§ 901-950 (2000). *629 The parties are familiar with the facts and we do not repeat them here.

We review the Board’s decision for substantial evidence and errors of law. Marine Power & Equip, v. Dep’t of Labor, 203 F.3d 664, 667 (9th Cir.2000). In its decision, the Board appropriately reviewed the attorney’s fees awards for whether they were an abuse of discretion or calculated in a manner not in accordance with the law. See Parks v. Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., 32 BRBS 90 (1998).

The Board affirmed the ALJ’s award of attorney’s fees because it determined that the ALJ “applied the applicable regulation” and “rationally determine!)!] that the lower rate [was] appropriate given the circumstances of the case.” The ALJ awarded the fee based on an hourly rate that he determined was commensurate with the hourly rates commonly awarded in comparable cases in the same geographic…