Gill v. Commissioner Social Security Administration , 385 F. App'x 639 ( 2010 )

FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION JUN 22 2010
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
VERITA GILL, ) No. 09-35257
)
Plaintiff – Appellant, ) D.C. No. 3:07-CV-00812-HU
)
v. ) MEMORANDUM *
)
COMMISSIONER SOCIAL )
SECURITY ADMINISTRATION, )
)
Defendant – Appellee. )
)
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Oregon
Michael W. Mosman, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted June 7, 2010 **
Portland, Oregon
Before: HALL, FERNANDEZ, and McKEOWN, Circuit Judges.
Verita Gill appeals the district court’s award of fees pursuant to the Equal
Access to Justice Act. 28 U.S.C. § 2412. We affirm.
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously finds this case suitable for decision without oral
argument. Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
Gill asserts that the district court erred when it determined that the number
of reasonably expended hours1 was less than the number actually expended by
counsel. We disagree. We have reviewed the district court’s decision and the
record, and we are unable to say that the district court abused its discretion 2 when it
explained that, considering the nature and complexity of this case, it was
unreasonable for counsel to expend more than the forty hours the district court
allowed.3 Put another way, we have scrutinized the decision and the record with
particular care because we insist that district courts eschew policies that turn into
substitutes for the exercise of their discretion,4 but that error did not occur here.
AFFIRMED.
1
See Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 433–34, 103 S. Ct. 1933, 1939, 76
L. Ed. 2d 40 (1983); Comm’r, INS v. Jean, 496 U.S. 154, 163, 110 S. Ct. 2316,
2321, 110 L. Ed. 2d 134 (1990); Atkins v. Apfel, 154 F.3d 986, 988 (9th Cir.
1998).
2
See Atkins, 154 F.3d at 987.
3
See Moreno v. City of Sacramento, 534 F.3d 1106, 1111 (9th Cir. 2008);
Sorenson v. Mink, 239 F.3d 1140, 1145 (9th Cir. 2001); Cunningham v. County of
L.A., 879 F.2d 481, 484–85 (9th Cir. 1989).
4
See Moreno, 534 F.3d at 1116.
2