Robinson v. Berryhill, No. 3:2016cv06002 - Document 26 (W.D. Wash. 2018)

Court Description: ORDER granting in part 22 Motion for EAJA Attorney Fees signed by Judge J Richard Creatura.(SH)

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d fee was awarded. Dkt. 25, page 4. No doubt. 12 This Court notes that plaintiff’s counsel is regularly successful before this Court, 13 but that does not belie the fact that his method of preparing cases is, at best, challenging 14 15 16 for the Court. Sometimes – often – this Court strains to determine the merits of the case based on the laborious, but unhelpful, recitation of the record. This case is similar to so 17 many others presented by this counsel, in that respect. 18 When determining the reasonableness of plaintiff’s requested fee the “amount of 19 the fee, of course, must be determined on the facts of each case.” Hensley, supra, 461 20 U.S. at 430. The Court noted that the House Report “refers to the 12 factors set forth in 21 Johnson,” supra, 488 F.2d at 714, but the Court noted that a district court also “may 22 consider [the] other factors identified in Johnson, [supra, 488 F.2d at 717-19]. Hensley, 23 24 ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’S CONTESTED MOTION FOR ATTORNEYS’ FEES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT - 7 1 supra, 461 U.S. at 434 n.9 (citation omitted). As “awards in similar cases” is one of these 2 “other factors,” this Court has done so here. 3 4 5 Based on the particular facts and record in this case, and with consideration given to fee awards in similar cases, the Court concludes that although the paralegal hours requested is reasonable, plaintiff has requested an excessive amount of attorney hours 6 that were not reasonably expended, particularly on the Opening Brief. See Hensley, 7 supra, 461 U.S. at 434 (“the District Court [] should exclude from this initial fee 8 9 10 calculation of hours that were not ‘reasonably expended’”), 430 n.3. The Court reduces by 5 hours ($983.95) to $6,565.05. Also, in light of this 11 Court’s ruling and plaintiff’s counsel’s failure to follow this Court’s Scheduling order, 12 the additional time requested by plaintiff for the defense of the fee petition is not added to 13 plaintiff’s award. 14 CONCLUSION 15 It is hereby ORDERED that EAJA attorneys’ fees of $6,565.05 and $5.18 for 16 expenses, shall be awarded to plaintiff pursuant to the EAJA and consistent with Astrue v. 17 18 Ratliff, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 2524, 2010 U.S. LEXIS 4763 at ***6-***7 (2010). The Acting Commissioner shall contact the Department of Treasury after the 19 Order for EAJA fees and expenses is entered to determine if the EAJA fees and expenses 20 are subject to any offset. If it is determined that plaintiff’s EAJA fees and expenses are 21 22 23 not subject to any offset allowed pursuant to the Department of the Treasury’s Offset Program, then the check for EAJA fees and expenses shall be paid directly to Eitan 24 Kassel Yanich, Esq., either by direct deposit or by check payable to him based on ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’S CONTESTED MOTION FOR ATTORNEYS’ FEES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT - 8 1 plaintiff’s assignment of these amounts to plaintiff’s attorney (see Plaintiff’s Declaration 2 Regarding Net Worth and Payment of EAJA Fees, Dkt. 21). If there is an offset, the 3 remainder shall be made payable to plaintiff, based on the practice of the Department of 4 5 the Treasury (see, e.g., Case No. 2:15-cv-122, Dkt. 22, p. 4). Any check for EAJA fees and expenses shall be mailed to plaintiff’s counsel, Eitan Kassel Yanich, Esq., at Law 6 Office of Eitan Kassel Yanich, PLLC, 203 Fourth Avenue E., Suite 321, Olympia, WA 7 98501. 8 9 Dated this 31st day of May, 2018. A 10 J. Richard Creatura United States Magistrate Judge 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’S CONTESTED MOTION FOR ATTORNEYS’ FEES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT - 9

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