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

1 MCGREGOR W. SCOTT United States Attorney 2 DEBORAH LEE STACHEL, CSBN 230138 Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX 3 Social Security Administration 4 TINA NAICKER Special Assistant United States Attorney 5 Assistant Regional Counsel 6 Social Security Administration, Region IX 160 Spear Street, Suite 800 7 San Francisco, California 94105 8 Tel: (415) 268-5611 9 Fax: (415) 744-0134 E-mail: Tina.Naicker@ssa.gov 10 Attorneys for Defendant 11 Jonathan O. Peña, Esq. 12 CA Bar ID No.: 278044 13 Peña & Bromberg, PLC 2440 Tulare St., Ste. 320 14 Fresno, CA 93721 15 Telephone: 559-439-9700 Facsimile: 559-439-9700 16 info@jonathanpena.com 17 Attorney for Plaintiff, Rosalba Vidal Rodriguez 18 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 19 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 20 FRESNO DIVISION 21 Rosalba Vidal Rodriguez, Case No.: 1:18-cv-00952-JDP 22 Plaintiff, STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR THE 23 AWARD OF ATTORNEY FEES UNDER 24 v. THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) 25 NANCY A. BERRYHILL, Acting 26 Commissioner of Social Security, 27 Defendant. 1 TO THE HONORABLE JEREMY D. PETERSON, MAGISTRATE JUDGE OF 2 THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT: 3 The Parties through their undersigned counsel, subject to the Court’s approval, 4 stipulate that Plaintiff be awarded attorney fees in the amount of SIX THOUSAND, 5 FIVE HUNDRED and 00/100 ($6,500.00) under the Equal Access to Justice Act 6 (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). This amount represents compensation for all legal 7 services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action, 8 in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). 9 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will 10 consider the matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to counsel. Pursuant to 11 Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 598, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 177 L.Ed.2d 91 (2010), the ability 12 to honor the assignment will depend on whether the fees are subject to any offset 13 allowed under the United States Department of the Treasury’s Offset Program. After 14 the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine whether they are 15 16 subject to any offset. 17 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury 18 determines that Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause 19 the payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made directly to counsel, pursuant to the 20 assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any payments made shall be delivered to Plaintiff’s 21 counsel, Jonathan O. Peña. 22 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for 23 EAJA fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant 24 under the EAJA. Payment of $6,500.00 (SIX THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED 25 DOLLARS and 00/100) in EAJA attorney fees shall constitute a complete release 26 from, and bar to, any and all claims that Plaintiff and Plaintiff’s attorney, Jonathan O. 27 Peña, may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection with this action. 1 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Plaintiff’s attorney to seek Social 2 Security Act attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause 3 provisions of the EAJA. 4 Respectfully submitted, 5 6 Dated: June 28, 2019 /s/ Jonathan O. Peña 7 J ONATHAN O. PEÑA Attorney for Plaintiff 8 9 Dated: September 26, 2019 MCGREGOR W. SCOTT 10 United States Attorney DEBORAH LEE STACHEL 11 Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX 12 Social Security Administration 13 By: _*_Tina Naiker _________________ 14 TINA NAICKER Special Assistant U.S. Attorney 15 Attorneys for Defendant 16 (*Permission to use electronic signature obtained via email on September 26, 2019). 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 Order 2 I order that, pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), fees in the amount of six thousand five hundred dollars ($6,500.00) be awarded subject 5 || to the terms of the stipulation. 6 7 8 IT IS SO ORDERED. ° Dated: _ September 30, 2019 CN prssenn —_ 10 UNI STATE AGISTRATE JUDGE 11 12 13 No. 205 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -A-