Mansfield v. Commissioner of Social Security Administration

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Mansfield v. Commissioner of Social Security Administration, 509 F. App'x 643 (9th Cir. 2013)

Mansfield v. Commissioner of Social Security Administration

Opinion

MEMORANDUM **

Tim Wilborn, the attorney of record for Marta Mansfield and the real-party-in-interest, appeals from the district court’s order granting in part his motion for attorney’s fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b) based on a contingent-fee agreement with Mansfield. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review for an abuse of discretion, Crawford v. Astrue, 586 F.3d 1142, 1147 (9th Cir. 2009) (en banc), and we affirm.

The district court did not abuse its discretion by reducing the fees from the percentage specified in Wilborn’s fee agreement based on the court’s assessment, under the appropriate legal standard, of what fees were reasonable given the risk and complexity involved in this case. See id. at 1152-53 (explaining that courts should assess the complexity and risk involved in the specific case at issue, rather than social security cases in general, when analyzing the reasonableness of the requested fees); see also Gisbrecht v. Barnhart, 535 U.S. 789, 808, 122 S.Ct. 1817, 152 L.Ed.2d 996 (2002) (“Judges of our district courts are accustomed to making reasonabléness determinations in a wide variety of contexts, and their assessments in such matters, in the event of an appeal, ordinarily qualify for highly respectful review.”); Clark v. Astrue, 529 F.3d 1211, 1214 (9th Cir. 2008) (“The district court abuses its discretion if it does not apply the correct legal standard or rests its decision on a clearly erroneous finding of fact.”).

AFFIRMED.

**

This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.

Reference

Full Case Name
Marta MANSFIELD, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION, Defendant-Appellee
Status
Unpublished