Cite as: 535 U. S. 789 (2002)
Opinion of the Court
ney's fee as part of the costs" (internal quotation marks omitted)).
Congress, we conclude, designed § 406(b) to control, not to displace, fee agreements between Social Security benefits claimants and their counsel. Because the decision before us for review rests on lodestar calculations and rejects the primacy of lawful attorney-client fee agreements, we reverse the judgment below and remand for recalculation of counsel fees payable from the claimants' past-due benefits.
I
A
Fees for representation of individuals claiming Social Security old-age, survivor, or disability benefits, both at the administrative level and in court, are governed by prescriptions Congress originated in 1965. Social Security Amendments of 1965, 79 Stat. 403, as amended, 42 U. S. C. § 406.2
2 Before 1965, Congress did not explicitly authorize attorney's fees for in-court representation of Social Security benefits claimants. At least two Courts of Appeals, however, concluded that 42 U. S. C. § 405(g) implicitly authorized such fees. See Bowen v. Galbreath, 485 U. S. 74, 75-76 (1988) (citing Celebrezze v. Sparks, 342 F. 2d 286 (CA5 1965)) ("Under 42 U. S. C. § 405(g), a court reviewing [a Social Security benefits decision] has the power to enter 'a judgment affirming, modifying, or reversing the decision . . . .' The court in Sparks reasoned that where a statute gives a court jurisdiction, it must be presumed, absent any indication to the contrary, that the court was intended to exercise all the powers of a court, including the power to provide for payment of attorney's fees out of any recovery. 342 F. 2d, at 288-289 [citing Folsom v. McDonald, 237 F. 2d 380, 382-383 (CA4 1956)].").
As to administrative proceedings, the Social Security Act originally made no provision for attorney's fees. 49 Stat. 620 (1935). Four years later, Congress amended the Act to permit the Social Security Board to prescribe maximum fees attorneys could charge for representation of claimants before the agency. Social Security Act Amendments of 1939, 53 Stat. 1360. Congress expected the need for counsel in agency proceedings to be slim. H. R. Rep. No. 728, 76th Cong., 1st Sess., 44-45 (1939); S. Rep. No. 734, 76th Cong., 1st Sess., 53 (1939). The Board subsequently established a maximum fee of $10, permitting a higher fee only by petition
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