Hartman v. Kijakazi

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA LORIEL H., Plaintiff, 8:21-CV-196 vs. MEMORANDUM AND ORDER KILOLO KIJAKAZI, Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Defendant. This matter is before the Court upon the plaintiff's Motion for Award of Attorney Fees pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. 2412(d). Filing 30. The defendant does not object to the plaintiff's requested fees and expenses in the amount of $2,909.68 (filing 30-2); which represents 9.9 hours of work in 2021 at a rate of $217.54 per hour and 3.3 hours of work in 2022 at a rate of $229.10 per hour for attorneys Wes Kappelman and Kimberly Schram.1 Filing 30-1; filing 31. The defendant also does not object to the plaintiff's recovery of her filing fee in the amount of $402.00. Filing 31. The Court has determined that the plaintiff was the prevailing party in this action, as the Commissioner's decision was reversed and the case remanded to the Commissioner for further proceedings; that the application for fees was filed in a timely fashion;2 and that the position of the 1 The maximum hourly fee of $125 specified in 28 U.S.C. § 2412 (d)(1)(D)(2)(A) was adjusted to account for inflation. See filing 30-1 at 2-3. 2 An Equal Access to Justice Act application based on a district court judgment remanding a case pursuant to sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405 (g) must be filed no later than 30 days after Commissioner was not substantially justified because the administrative law judge made findings that were not supported by substantial evidence. See Koss v. Sullivan, 982 F.2d 1226 (8th Cir. 1993). Therefore, the plaintiff is entitled to an award of attorney fees. Further, the plaintiff is entitled to recovery of her filing fee in the amount of $402.00, to be paid out of the Judgment Fund administered by the Department of Justice. IT IS ORDERED: 1. The plaintiff's Motion for Award of Attorney Fees pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412 (d) (filing 30) is granted. 2. By separate document, the Court shall enter judgment for the plaintiff and against the defendant providing that the plaintiff is awarded attorney fees of $2,909.68, and costs of $402.00, for a total of $3,311.68. 3. That sum shall be sent to plaintiff's counsel, Mr. Kappelman, who shall be responsible for remitting to Ms. Schram her portion of the award. the sentence four judgment has been entered and the appeal period has run such that the judgment is no longer appealable. See Pottsmith v. Barnhart, 306 F.3d 526, 527-28 (8th Cir. 2002); see also Shalala v. Schaefer, 509 U.S. 292, 302 (1993); Melkonyan v. Sullivan, 501 U.S. 89, 94-97 (1991). Dated this 17th day of June, 2022. BY 1 | E COU ar: [hi elon J Hh n M. Gerrard IAited States District Judge