Buchanan v. Apfel
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
249 F.3d 485 (2001)
- Written by Heather Whittemore, JD
Facts
Dale Buchanan (plaintiff) was an attorney who represented disability-benefits applicants. Buchanan’s client contracts specified that Buchanan would be paid the greater of 25 percent of the benefits his clients received or $1,500. Buchanan always received $1,500 under this arrangement. The Social Security Administration (SSA) (defendant) limited Buchanan to receiving 25 percent of the benefits. Buchanan argued that the SSA violated his procedural- and substantive-due-process rights by placing a cap on the fees he could receive from his clients. The district court upheld the SSA, and Buchanan appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Gilman, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 899,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 47,000 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

