UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA FORT MYERS DIVISION

JAMES WILLIAMS,

Plaintiff,

v. Case No.: 2:21-cv-63-KCD

COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY,

Defendants. / ORDER Having obtained an award of benefits, James Williams’s attorney, Carol Avard, requests attorney’s fees under

(b). (Doc. 29.) Defendant has no opposition. Section 406(b) provides that an attorney who obtains a benefits award on remand may petition for a reasonable fee—not to exceed twenty-five percent of the claimant’s past-due benefits—for work performed before the court. Here, Avard requests $27,476.25, which is 25 percent of past-due benefits. Avard asserts that the previously EAJA award of $8,515.64 will be returned to Plaintiff. See Paltan v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec.,

(11th Cir. 2013) (noting that the attorney has the option of either refunding the EAJA award to the plaintiff directly or reducing the § 406(b) award). For the reasons stated in Williams’s unopposed motion, the requested fee is both reasonable and appropriate under § 406(b). Accordingly, the unopposed fee motion (Doc. 29) is GRANTED. The clerk will enter judgment for Williams for $27,476.25 in attorney’s fees under

(b). ORDERED in Fort Myers, Florida this July 31, 2023.

GL. Saal Ke C. Dudek United States Magistrate Judge

Copies: All Parties of Record