BRB No. 93-1548

ALTON M. FISHER                         )
                                        )
          Claimant-Respondent           )
                                        )    
     v.                                 )
                                        )
INGALLS SHIPBUILDING,                   )    DATE ISSUED:   03/20/1996
INCORPORATED                            )
                                        )
          Self-Insured                  )
          Employer-Petitioner           )    DECISION AND ORDER

     Appeal of the Supplemental Decision and Order Awarding Attorney Fees of
     Richard D. Mills, Administrative Law Judge, United States Department of
     Labor.

     Traci M. Castille (Franke, Rainey & Salloum), Gulfport, Mississippi, for
     self-insured employer.

     Before:  HALL, Chief Administrative Appeals Judge, SMITH and DOLDER,
     Administrative Appeals Judges.

     PER CURIAM:

     Employer appeals the Supplemental Decision and Order Awarding Attorney Fees
(89-LHC-3552) of Administrative Law Judge Richard D. Mills rendered on a claim
filed pursuant to the provisions of the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation
Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. §901 et seq. (the Act).  The amount of an
attorney's fee award is discretionary and may be set aside only if the challenging
party shows it to be arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or not in
accordance with law. See, e.g., Muscella v. Sun Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co.,
12 BRBS 272 (1980).

     Claimant's counsel sought an attorney's fee of $4,500, representing 36 hours
at $125 per hour, for work performed before the administrative law judge in
connection with claimant's hearing loss claim.  The administrative law judge
awarded counsel a fee of $2,268.75, representing 20.625 hours at an hourly rate of
$110.  Employer appeals the administrative law judge's fee award, incorporating by
reference the objections it made below into its appellate brief.  Claimant has not
filed a response brief.



     Employer contends that the fee awarded is excessive, maintaining that the case
was routine and uncontested.  An attorney's fee must be awarded in accordance with
Section 28 of the Act, 33 U.S.C. §928, and the applicable regulation, Section
702.132, 20 C.F.R. §702.132, which provides that the award of any attorney's
fee shall be reasonably commensurate with the necessary work done, the complexity
of the legal issues involved and the amount of benefits awarded. See generally
Parrott v. Seattle Joint Port Labor Relations Committee of the Pacific Maritime
Ass'n, 22 BRBS 434 (1989).  In the instant case, the administrative law judge
considered these specific objections in reducing counsel's requested hourly rate
from $125 to $110.  We, therefore, reject employer's contention that the awarded
fee must be further reduced on this basis.

     Employer's objections to the number of hours and hourly rate awarded are
rejected, as it has not been shown that the administrative law judge abused his
discretion in this regard. See Ross v. Ingalls Shipbuilding, Inc., 29 BRBS
42 (1995); Maddon v. Western Asbestos Co., 23 BRBS 55 (1989); Cabral v.
General Dynamics Corp., 13 BRBS 97 (1981).  Employer's specific objection to
counsel's method of billing in minimum increments of one-quarter hour also is
rejected, as the administrative law judge considered this objection, and his award
conforms to the criteria set forth in the decisions of the United States Court of
Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Ingalls Shipbuilding, Inc. v. Director, OWCP
[Fairley], No. 89-4459 (5th Cir. July 25, 1990)(unpublished) and Ingalls
Shipbuilding, Inc. v. Director, OWCP [Biggs], No. 94-400066 (5th Cir. Jan. 12,
1995) (unpublished).

     Employer's contentions which were not raised below will not be addressed for
the first time on appeal. Bullock v. Ingalls Shipbuilding, Inc., 27 BRBS 90
(1993)(en banc)(Brown and McGranery, JJ., concurring and dissenting),
modified on other grounds on recon. en banc, 28 BRBS 102 (1994), aff'd
mem. sub nom. Ingalls Shipbuilding, Inc. v. Director, OWCP [Biggs], 46 F.3d 66
(5th Cir. 1995); Clophus v. Amoco Production Co., 21 BRBS 261 (1988).

     Accordingly, the administrative law judge's Supplemental Decision and Order
Awarding Attorney Fees is affirmed.

     SO ORDERED.
                                                                      

                         BETTY JEAN HALL, Chief
                         Administrative Appeals Judge


                                                                      

                         ROY P. SMITH
                         Administrative Appeals Judge
                              

                                                                      

                         NANCY S. DOLDER
                         Administrative Appeals Judge

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