Cite as: 535 U. S. 789 (2002)
Opinion of the Court
B
Petitioners Gary Gisbrecht, Barbara Miller, and Nancy Sandine brought three separate actions in the District Court for the District of Oregon under 42 U. S. C. § 405(g) (1994 ed.),5 seeking Social Security disability benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act. All three petitioners were represented by the same attorneys, and all three prevailed on the merits of their claims. Gisbrecht was awarded $28,366 in past-due benefits; Miller, $30,056; and San-dine, $55,952. Each petitioner then successfully sought attorneys' fees payable by the United States under EAJA: Gisbrecht was awarded $3,339.11, Miller, $5,164.75, and Sandine, $6,836.10.
Pursuant to contingent-fee agreements standard for Social Security claimant representation, see 1 B. Samuels, Social Security Disability Claims § 21:10 (2d ed. 1994), Gisbrecht, Miller, and Sandine had each agreed to pay counsel 25 percent of all past-due benefits recovered, App. to Pet. for Cert. 72-86. Their attorneys accordingly requested § 406(b) fees of $7,091.50 from Gisbrecht's recovery, $7,514 from Miller's, and $13,988 from Sandine's. Given the EAJA offsets, the amounts in fact payable from each client's past-due benefits recovery would have been $3,752.39 from Gisbrecht's recovery, $2,349.25 from Miller's, and $7,151.90 from Sandine's.
Following Circuit precedent, see Allen v. Shalala, 48 F. 3d 456, 458-459 (CA9 1995), the District Court in each case declined to give effect to the attorney-client fee agreement. Gisbrecht v. Apfel, No. CV-98-0437-RE (Ore., Apr. 14, 1999); Miller v. Apfel, No. CV-96-6164-AS (Ore., Mar. 30, 1999); Sandine v. Apfel, No. CV-97-6197-ST (Ore., June 18, 1999). Instead, the court employed for the § 406(b) fee calculation a "lodestar" method, under which the number of hours reasonably devoted to each case was multiplied by a reasonable
5 Section 405(g) authorizes judicial review of administrative denials of applications for Social Security benefits.
797
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