Cite as: 509 U. S. 292 (1993)
Stevens, J., concurring in judgment
the Court's holding today that a claimant who secures nothing more than an order instructing the Secretary to try again is a "prevailing party" does undermine one premise of our decision in Hudson. It is, however, only one premise. Hudson stood on broader grounds, and I continue to believe that our opinion in that case correctly explained why legal services performed in agency proceedings on remand are properly within the coverage of EAJA:
"We think the principles we found persuasive in [Pennsylvania v.] Delaware Valley [Citizens' Council, 478 U. S. 546 (1986),] and [New York Gaslight Club, Inc. v.] Carey[, 447 U. S. 54 (1980),] are controlling here. As in Delaware Valley, the administrative proceedings on remand in this case were 'crucial to the vindication of [respondent's] rights.' Delaware Valley, supra, at 561. . . . [T]he services of an attorney may be necessary both to ensure compliance with the District Court's order in the administrative proceedings themselves, and to prepare for any further proceedings before the District Court to verify such compliance. In addition, as we did in Carey, we must endeavor to interpret the fee statute in light of the statutory provisions it was designed to effectuate. Given the 'mandatory' nature of the administrative proceedings at issue here, and their
§ 1988.' Id., at 759. More recently in Texas State Teachers Assn. v. Garland Independent School Dist., 489 U. S. 782 (1989), we indicated that in order to be considered a prevailing party, a plaintiff must achieve some of the benefit sought in bringing the action. Id., at 791-793. We think it clear that under these principles a Social Security claimant would not, as a general matter, be a prevailing party within the meaning of the EAJA merely because a court had remanded the action to the agency for further proceedings. See Hewitt v. Helms, 482 U. S. 755, 760 (1987). Indeed, the vast majority of the Courts of Appeals have come to this conclusion. See, e. g., Paulson v. Bowen, 836 F. 2d 1249, 1252 (CA9 1988); Swedberg v. Bowen, 804 F. 2d 432, 434 (CA8 1986); Brown v. Secretary of Health and Human Services, [747 F. 2d 878, 880-881 (CA3 1984)]." Hudson, 490 U. S., at 886-887.
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