Raymond Hopkins v. John W. Gardner, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare

FAIRCHILD, Circuit Judge.

This appeal, brought in reality by attorney Allen Sharp, involves Sharp’s claim that the district court erroneously limited his fee for services in an action to review an administrative decision suspending insurance benefits under the social security act. The problem is the construction of a statute, enacted in 1965, authorizing the court to allow a reasonable attorney’s fee where, in such action, a judgment favorable to a claimant is recovered, the fee not to be “in excess of 25 percent of the total of the past-due benefits to which the claimant is entitled by reason…