Fee decision makers approve or disapprove a fee agreement only when there is a favorable decision on the underlying claim(s), post-entitlement, or post-eligibility action(s). This includes revised favorable decisions that the AC issues after reviewing a favorable hearings-level decision. Decision makers take no action on a fee agreement when issuing an unfavorable decision, a dismissal order, or a remand order. For general information about approving or disapproving fee agreements, see HALLEX HA 01120.012 and HA 01120.025. For additional considerations when the AC reviews a favorable hearings-level decision with an approved fee agreement, see HALLEX HA 01120.014.

Of note, many fee agreements are tiered (i.e., the fee agreement limits its application through a certain point in the administrative review process) at the AC level or at the hearings level following an AC or Federal court remand. When a tiered fee agreement applies, in addition to the usual considerations, the decision maker will also consider the instructions in HALLEX HA 01120.015 in determining whether to approve the fee agreement.

The decision makers for fee agreements are:

The fee agreement decision maker can amend the fee agreement determination (approval or disapproval) because of an error, subject to the conditions in HALLEX HA 01120.049B. Such a revision of the fee agreement determination does not qualify as a request for administrative review, and the parties to the fee agreement retain the right to request administrative review of the revised determination (see HALLEX HA 01120.049B).

The parties to a fee agreement determination have the right to request administrative review of the determination if they disagree with the initial decision maker's approval or disapproval of the fee agreement. See HALLEX HA 01120.041 for general information about requests for administrative review under the fee agreement process and HALLEX HA 01120.042 for additional information about administrative reviews of a fee agreement determination.

The Director of Hearings In-Line Quality Review (Hearings ILQR) or a designee is the reviewing official for all fee agreement determinations made at the hearings and AC levels.

Effectuating components review approved fee agreements as part of the effectuation process to calculate the fee amount the representative(s) will receive. When an effectuating component believes that the initial hearings or AC-level decision maker incorrectly approved a fee agreement, it will submit a protest memorandum disputing the fee agreement approval. In other cases, hearings or AC-level personnel may become aware that a fee agreement was erroneously approved and ask a reviewing official to reconsider the fee agreement approval. For more information about fee agreement protests, see HALLEX HA 01120.049.

The Director of Hearings ILQR or a designee is the reviewing official for all protests of hearings and AC-level fee agreement approvals. Fee agreement protest memoranda should be submitted to ^DA DICompliance Hearings ILQR Fees.

The parties to an approved fee agreement have the right to request administrative review of the fee amount authorized under the fee agreement. In certain circumstances, the initial decision maker may also request administrative review of the fee amount. See HALLEX HA 01120.041 for general information about requests for administrative review under the fee agreement process and HALLEX HA 01120.044 for additional information about administrative review of the fee amount.

The reviewing officials for fee amount authorized under a fee agreement are:

Unless the AC takes the last administrative action on the claim(s) (see NOTE 1), the hearings-level fee decision maker who issued the final decision or dismissal order is generally the initial fee authorizer and may set a reasonable fee pursuant to a fee petition.

The initial authorizer must not authorize a fee in response to a fee petition if the representative's fee contract, including a fee agreement, is contingent on a favorable outcome, and the outcome was ultimately unfavorable.

The hearings-level initial authorizer may authorize a fee up to and including $15,000.00. If the fee petition requests a fee of more than $15,000.00 or, after reviewing the fee petition, the initial authorizer believes a fee of more than $15,000.00 is warranted, the initial authorizer will send the fee petition to ^DA DICompliance Hearings ILQR Fees.

When multiple representatives request fees for the same hearings-level case, the initial authorizer will issue a fee authorization for each fee petition filed, unless the cumulative total of the fees authorized would exceed $15,000.00. If the cumulative total exceeds $15,000.00, the initial authorizer will send the fee petitions to ^DA DICompliance Hearings ILQR Fees.

The Director of Hearings ILQR or a designee is responsible for any initial authorization that exceeds $15,000.00 for a single fee petition or initial authorizations totaling more than $15,000.00 for multiple fee petitions in a single, hearings-level case.

The Director of Hearings ILQR or a designee is also the initial fee authorizer for fee petitions filed on any case where the AC issued the final decision or took the last administrative action.

Outside of the administrative review process, there are two circumstances where an initial authorizer may modify an initial fee authorization based on a fee petition.

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  An effectuating component identifies a technical or administrative error that prevents direct payment of the authorized fee and refers the matter to the initial authorizer for correction. See POMS GN 03930.060C.

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  The initial authorizer or other hearings or AC staff identifies a technical or administrative error in the fee authorization that requires correction, and, within a reasonable timeframe (e.g., before the decision is effectuated and the fee(s) paid), the initial authorizer rescinds and revises the initial fee authorization.

In these circumstances, the parties to the fee petition retain their right to request administrative review, and the revised initial authorization replaces the initial authorization for purposes of calculating the time limit for requesting administrative review.

The parties to a fee authorization (e.g., the claimant and representative) have the right to dispute the initial fee amount set by the initial authorizer based on a fee petition. For additional information about administrative review under the fee petition process, please see HALLEX HA 01120.061.

When the initial authorizer was a hearings-level fee decision maker, the Director of Hearings ILQR or a designee has the authority to conduct administrative review of the fee petition. The Chair of the AC or a designee serves as the reviewing official when the Director of Hearings ILQR or a designee authorized the initial fee under the fee petition process.

When a court issues a favorable decision for a claimant, the Director of Hearings ILQR or a designee is responsible for reviewing a representative's request for a fee for administrative services before SSA. The representative must submit this request as a fee petition, unless he or she already has an approved fee agreement.

Hearings and AC-level fee decision makers do not act on a fee agreement after a favorable court-issued decision. If a fee agreement was approved in connection with a favorable decision that was appealed to Federal court, SSA will recalculate the past-due benefits amount resulting from the favorable court decision and may authorize an additional administrative fee to the representative(s) (See POMS GN 03940.004B). If SSA revises the initial fee amount authorized under the fee agreement, it will send this information in a revised Notice of Award to the claimant and representative and provide the parties an opportunity to request administrative review of the revised fee amount.

In general, fee authorizations following a court remand follow the same administrative procedures as other administrative fee authorizations discussed above in HALLEX HA 01120.006B and C.