UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA FORT MYERS DIVISION

DENISE ANN ROUSSIN,

Plaintiff,

v. Case No.: 2:23-cv-1089-KCD

COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY,

Defendant. / ORDER Having obtained an award of benefits, Denise Ann Roussin’s attorney, Carol Avard, seeks attorney’s fees under

(b). (Doc. 23.) Defendant has not opposed the request. 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 $45,221.93, which is 25 percent of past-due benefits. (Doc. 23 at 1-2.) Avard further asserts that the previous EAJA award of $16,641.07 will be returned to Plaintiff. (Doc. 23 at 2-3); see Paltan v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec.,

(11th Cir. 2013) (noting that the attorney has the option of either refunding a prior EAJA award to the plaintiff directly or reducing the § 406(b) award by the same amount). For the reasons stated in Roussin’s motion, the requested fee is both reasonable and appropriate under § 406(b). Accordingly, the fee motion (Doc. 28) is GRANTED. The clerk will enter judgment for Roussin for $45,221.93 in attorney’s fees under

(b). ORDERED in Fort Myers, Florida on December 30, 2024.

Pic gf cee Lf SF FF le 6h. Mal?” * Kale C. Dudek United States Magistrate Judge

Copies: All Parties of Record