(SS) Macdonald v. Commissioner of Social Security

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 PATRICK J. MACDONALD, No. 2:16-cv-1046-EFB Plaintiff, v. ORDER ANDREW SAUL, Commissioner of Social Security, 14 Defendant.

16 Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), counsel for plaintiff in the above-entitled action seeks an award of attorney fees in the amount of $15,000, which is 18.4 percent of past benefits due to plaintiff. ECF No. 23. Plaintiff entered into a retainer agreement with his attorney which provides that he would pay counsel 25 percent of any past-due benefits won as a result of the appeal in this case. ECF No. 23-2. Counsel spent 14.6 professional hours on plaintiff’s case, and a paralegal spent an additional 2.4 hours on the case. ECF No. 23-5. 42 U.S.C. § 406(b)(1)(A) provides, in relevant part: Whenever a court renders a judgment favorable to a claimant under this subchapter who was represented before the court by an attorney, the court may determine and allow as part of its judgment a…