The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today released an opinion in LE v. BARNHART, No. 06-56804, an appeal in a civil action against the United States. The panel consisted of William A. Fletcher and Ronald M. Gould, Circuit Judges, and Louis H. Pollak, Senior District Judge..

GOULD, Circuit Judge:
Appellant Minh Le (”Le”) first applied for Supplemental Social Security (”SSI”) benefits in September 1994, claiming an onset of disability of February 1994. His application was denied by an administrative law judge in October 1997, but that judgment was reversed by the district court and Le’s application was remanded to the Commissioner for additional proceedings. Le then moved in the district court for attorney’s fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (”EAJA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). The district court denied the EAJA motion, concluding that the government’s position was “substantially justified.” Le timely appealed the denial of EAJA fees, and we now affirm. [1] We review the district court’s denial of EAJA fees under an abuse of discretion standard. Lewis v. Barnhart, 281 F.3d 1081, 1083 (9th Cir. 2002). Under EAJA, a prevailing party in a suit against the government is entitled to fees in. . .

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