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Apr 12, 2018

Who Do You Sue And How Much Can The Attorney Get Paid If That Suit Is Successful?

     One minor issue caused by the absence of a confirmed or even acting Commissioner of Social Security is who do attorneys sue when they sue Social Security after a claimant has been denied. The statute says to sue the Commissioner. Normally, we sue the Commissioner or Acting Commissioner by name.
     The Solicitor General, who represents the federal government, including Social Security, before the Supreme Court, faced this issue recently in making a filing before the Supreme Court. Here's how they titled the case:
     By the way, this was a response to a petition for a writ of certiorari, that is a request that the Court hear a case. The Solicitor General is supporting the petition, which means that it probably will be heard. The issue in the case is:
Whether 42 U.S.C. 406(b)(1)(A) establishes that 25% of a claimant’s past-due benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act is the maximum aggregate amount of attorney’s fees that may be charged for representing the claimant in both administrative and court proceedings under Title II [of the Social Security Act].
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5 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:25 AM, April 12, 2018

    I can understand the logic of the delegible duties devolving to a deputy commissioner. I cannot understand the logic of why the other deputy commissioners also would not have the same powers by the same logic. There are 9 deputy commissioners in total.

    Did Berryhill prior to her term expiring delegate the role of acting commissioner specifically to deputy commissioner of operations? A position vacant at the time (Or was Berryhill occuping both roles?), or have the other deputy commissioners signed off on giving Berryhill their powers? This just seems weird.

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  2. Anonymous12:03 PM, April 12, 2018

    The govt so far has not let the court know that the pursuit of fees in this case violates state bar rules. The govt so far has let the attorney off the hook in order to pursue a bigger agenda. The attorney does not see the govt's play or his role as the pawn.

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  3. Anonymous6:53 AM, April 13, 2018

    Must also not understand EAJA fees ...

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  4. Anonymous7:21 AM, April 13, 2018

    The way authority devolves was set up because the DCs are not "equal" in actuality even though technically they are all peers. Operations is #1 because they are the meat and potatoes of the organization, the public face and the factory production line. The other DCs have areas that essentially support that organization in some way. At the time the memo was drafted, they even took into account personalities :) That doesn't matter any more but the memo was indeed crafted after giving it a lot of thought and getting input from the DCs before it was made official. It was essentially a consensus document.

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  5. Anonymous8:52 AM, April 13, 2018

    President Trump has announced the intent to nominate Andrew Saul to be Commissioner of Social Security.

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