EXAMPLE 1:
Jennifer appointed three representatives from the same firm: Adam, Barbara, and Chris.
Chris waived their right to a fee, and Adam and Barbara signed and submitted a single
fee agreement. Adam and Barbara are authorized direct payment of $5,000 (25 percent
of the past-due benefits of $20,000). We will pay one-half of the total authorized
fee minus one-half of the user fee ($120.00/2=$60.00) each to Adam and Barbara. Accordingly,
we will directly pay Adam and Barbara $2,440.00 ($2,500-$60.00 each.
EXAMPLE 2: Jennifer appointed Alice, Brad, and Carrie to handle Jennifer’s Title II disability
claim. Alice, Brad, and Carrie signed a single fee agreement; however, Alice and Brad
also waived their rights to a fee. Therefore, we will pay Carrie the entire fee we
authorized under the fee agreement after deducting the full user fee.
EXAMPLE 3: In the same scenario as Example 2, Carrie is a non-attorney representative ineligible
for direct payment. We will authorize the full fee to Carrie, but since we cannot
directly pay Carrie the authorized fee, Carrie must collect the full fee amount from
Jennifer, the claimant. We do not assess a user fee because we will not make direct
payment.
EXAMPLE 4:
In the same scenario as Example 3, all representatives waived their right to a fee.
We will release all past-due benefits to Jennifer unless there is court involvement
or if we receive a request for review of the fee authorized.
EXAMPLE 5:
John appoints Alice from All Disability Matters law firm (ADM) as the representative
on their Title II disability claim. Alice assigns direct payment of the authorized
fee of $4,500 to ADM (25 percent of the past-due benefits of $18,000). We will certify
direct payment of the authorized fee minus the total user fee to ADM.
EXAMPLE 6:
James appoints Alice from All Disability Matters law firm (ADM) and William from Disability
Fast Actions law firm (DFA) as the appointed representatives on James’s Title II disability
claim. Both Alice and William signed a single fee agreement and assign direct payment
of their authorized fee to their respective entities, ADM and DFA. In this scenario,
we will calculate the authorized fee for each representative and pay one-half of the
total authorized fee minus one-half of the user fee to each entity.
EXAMPLE 7:
James appoints Alice, Bill, and David from All Disability Matters law firm (ADM) as
the appointed representatives on James's Title II disability claim. The authorized
fee awarded in this case is $5,600. Alice and Bill assign direct payment of their
authorized fee to ADM; however, David has not assigned direct payment of the authorized
fee to the entity. In this scenario, we will calculate the portion of each representative's
fee by dividing the total fees authorized ($5,600) by the total number of representatives
(3), resulting in fees of $1,866.66 per representative. Since Alice and Bill assigned
direct payment of their fees to ADM, we will combine the fees authorized to them ($3,733.32)
and deduct their combined portions of the user fee from the amount paid to ADM. We
will directly pay David the remaining authorized fee amount and deduct his portion
of the user fee.
Example 7 Calculations
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Action
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Calculation
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1.
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Calculate each representative's portion of the authorized fee.
Amount due to Alice.
Amount due to Bill.
Amount due to David.
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$5,600/3=$1,866.66
$1,866.66
$1,866.66
$1,866.66
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2.
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Divide the amount of the user fee by the total number of representative(s) authorized
a fee.
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$120/3= $40.00
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3.
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Calculate each representative’s authorized fee minus each representative’s portion
of the user fee. (From Step 1 and Step 2)
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Alice $1,866.66-$40=$1,826.66
Bill $1,866.66-$40=$1,826.66
David $1,866.66-$40 =$1,826.66
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4.
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Calculate the combined authorized fee minus the portion of the user fee from Alice
and Bill to determine the fee amount to be directly paid to the entity ADM.
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$1,826.66 for Alice + $1,826.66 for Bill =$3,653.32 for ADM
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5.
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Release the appropriate share of the authorized fees to ADM and David after deducting
each representative's portion of the user fee.
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$3,653.32 to ADM
$1,826.66 to David
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