(SS) Raulfs v. Commissioner of Social Security ( 2019 )

ROBERT C. WEEMS CABN 148156 1 WEEMS LAW OFFICES 2 769 Center Blvd., PMB 38 3 Fairfax, CA 94930 Telephone: (415) 881-7653 4 Facsimile: (866) 610-1430 5 Email: rcweems@weemslawoffices.com ATTORNEY FOR PLAINTIFF 6 7 McGREGOR W. SCOTT 8 United States Attorney DEBORAH LEE STACHEL 9 Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX 10 Social Security Administration CAROL S. CLARK, MOBN 42670 11 Special Assistant United States Attorney 12 Social Security Administration 160 Spear St., Suite 800 13 San Francisco, CA 94105 14 Telephone: (415) 977-8975 15 Facsimile: (415) 744-0134 Email: Carol S. Clark@ssa.gov 16 17 Attorneys for Defendant UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 18 19 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 20 21 MARC HORST RAULFS, ) No. 2:17-cv-01805-DB 22 ) Plaintiff, ) STIPULATION FOR THE AWARD 23 ) AND PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY 24 v. ) FEES AND EXPENSES PURSUANT ) TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO 25 ANDREW SAUL, ) JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), 26 Commissioner of Social Security, ) AND COSTS PURSUANT TO 27 ) 28 U.S.C. § 1920 AND ORDER Defendant. ) 28 ) 1 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their 2 undersigned counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff be 3 awarded attorney fees and expenses in the amount of eight thousand six hundred 4 dollars ($8,600.00) under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. 5 § 2412(d), and no costs under U.S.C. § 1920. This amount represents 6 compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in 7 connection with this civil action, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920; 2412(d). 8 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government 9 will consider the matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to counsel. 10 Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 598, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 177 L.Ed.2d 91 11 (2010), the ability to honor the assignment will depend on whether the fees are 12 subject to any offset allowed under the United States Department of the 13 Treasury’s Offset Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the 14 government will determine whether they are subject to any offset. 15 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the 16 Treasury determines that Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the 17 government shall cause the payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made 18 directly to counsel, pursuant to the assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any 19 payments made shall be delivered to counsel. 20 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request 21 for EAJA attorney fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the 22 part of Defendant under the EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount 23 shall constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any and all claims that 24 Plaintiff and/or counsel including counsel’s firm may have relating to EAJA 25 attorney fees in connection with this action. 26 This award is without prejudice to the rights of counsel and/or counsel’s 27 firm to seek Social Security Act attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject 28 to the savings clause provisions of the EAJA. 1 Respectfully submitted, 2 Dated: August 21, 2011 By: /s/ Robert C. Weems* 3 ROBERT C. WEEMS * By email authorization on August 19, 2019 4 Attorneys for Plaintiff 5 6 Dated: August 21, 2011 McGREGOR W. SCOTT 7 United States Attorney 8 By: /s/ Carol S. Clark 9 CAROL S. CLARK 10 Special Assistant United States Attorney 11 12 13 ORDER 14 Pursuant to the parties’ stipulation, IT IS SO ORDERED.1 15 DATED: August 22, 2019 /s/ DEBORAH BARNES UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 In light of the parties’ stipulation, plaintiff’s June 19, 2019 motion for attorney’s fees (ECF No. 29) is deemed withdrawn.