Melinda Michelle Levine v. Commissioner of Social Security

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK ---------------------------------------------------------------X MELINDA MICHELLE LEVINE, : : Plaintiff, : 25-CV-3669 (AS) (RWL) : - against - : : ORDER COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, : : Defendant. : ---------------------------------------------------------------X ROBERT W. LEHRBURGER, United States Magistrate Judge.

This Order resolves Plaintiff’s Motion for Attorney’s Fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (“EAJA”). (See Dkt. 15.) For the reasons set forth below, the motion is GRANTED.

Plaintiff's counsel expended 34.1 hours in litigating this matter and initially sought compensation for only 32.0 hours at a billing rate of $251.84 for a total of $8,058.88. The Commissioner opposed, seeking a reduction of 50% and arguing that counsel spent inordinate amount of time reviewing the record and writing the brief. (See Dkt. 17.) As Plaintiff's counsel points out in reply, the Commissioner's argument is a hindsight, reductionist argument that ignores the substantial length of the record and counsel's thorough analysis and strategic planning that led to efficient focus on a single issue in a streamlined brief and the Commissioner’s agreement to remand. Having reviewed the time records for the work performed by counsel, the Court does not find any basis to reduce the fees sought; the hours and hourly rate (which is set by the EAJA and the Commissioner does not question) are entirely reasonable based on the circumstances of this case.

Plaintiff also seeks recovery of a fee for the time taken to author the reply brief in support of the Motion for Attorney's Fees. In total, Plaintiff expended 5.3 hours on the reply but only seeks recovery of fees for 2.5 hours (i.e., $629.60). Recovery of such fees and such amount is also entirely reasonable given the extent and nature of the Commissioner's arguments in the opposition. See Donnette H. v. Saul, 498 F. Supp.3d 328, 334 (N.D.N.Y. 2020) (awarding $619.80 for fees associated with preparing EAJA petition and subsequent reply); Rivera Hernandez v. Commissioner of Social Security, No. 19-CV-4025, 2020 WL 2765866, at *4 (S.D.N.Y. May 28, 2020) (awarding $624.09 for counsel's time “spent on [the] matter since the filing of the [fee application]’); Maerkel v. Commissioner of Social Security, No. 3:17-CV-170, 2020 WL 57526, at *4 (D. Conn. Jan. 6, 2020) (awarding fees for two hours expended on preparing a reply brief in support of an EAJA fee application).

Accordingly, Plaintiff is awarded attorney fees under the EAJA in the amount of $8,688.48 ($8,058.88 + $629.60) and costs in the amount of $405.00. Subject to any offset under the Treasury Offset Program, payment of this award shall be made via the Law Offices of Chermol & Fishman, LLC. All payments in accordance with this order should be submitted via electronic funds transfer (EFT) and directed to the care of Plaintiff's attorney.

To the extent not discussed above, the Court has considered all of the Commissioner's arguments and finds them to be either moot or without merit. The Clerk of Court is respectfully directed to terminate the motion at Dkt. 15.

SO ORDERED. jo—~ ROBERT W. LEHRBURGER UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE Dated: December 1, 2025 New York, New York Copies transmitted this date to all counsel of record.