Rodell HOUSTON, Sr., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Louis W. SULLIVAN, M.D., Secretary of Health and Human Services, Defendant-Appellee

I

In 1983 Rodell Houston, Sr., retained a New Orleans law firm to represent him in his claim for past-due social security benefits. Houston contracted for a contingency fee contract entitling counsel to 25 percent of any past-due benefits he received as a result of successful litigation of his claim. Houston’s initial application for benefits was denied at all levels within the Social Security Administration, and by the district court. In 1988, after Houston filed a second application, the administrative law judge reopened Houston’s initial application, revising the prior unfavorable ruling…