FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA CHARLOTTE DIVISION

CIVIL ACTION NO.: 3:17-cv-552-FDW-DSC

WILLIE SINGLETON, ) ) PLAINTIFF, ) ) VS. ) ) ANDREW SAUL, ) COMMISSIONER ) OF SOCIAL SECURITY, ) ) DEFENDANT. )

ORDER

THIS MATTER is before the Court on the Motion for Attorney’s Fees filed by Plaintiff’s counsel, George C Piemonte, on August 25, 2019. Document #25. The Defendant “neither supports nor opposes counsel’s request.” Document #27 at 1. Pursuant to

(b), whenever the Court renders a judgment favorable to a claimant, it may award attorney fees not to exceed twenty-five per cent of past-due benefits. In the instant case, the fee agreement between the Plaintiff and counsel provides for a contingency fee of twenty-five per cent of past-due benefits. In these circumstances, the reviewing court does not calculate a lodestar amount. It simply reviews the fee claimed for reasonableness. See Mudd v. Barnhardt,

(4th Cir. 2005). The Court has reviewed the amount requested by counsel and finds it to be reasonable. Accordingly, counsel’s Motion is ALLOWED. Plaintiff was awarded $106,020.00 in past-due benefits at the administrative level after this Court entered judgment. The Social Security Administration shall release the sum of $8,919.12 to plaintiff’s counsel as attorney’s fees for services rendered before this Court. Plaintiff’s counsel shall refund to the Plaintiff the amount of $5,700.00 previously awarded and paid to Plaintiff's counsel pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act. SO ORDERED.

Signed: September 10, 2019

tr 4 David S. Cayer . ts United States Magistrate Judge i