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

McGREGOR W. SCOTT 1 United States Attorney 2 DEBORAH LEE STACHEL Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX 3 Social Security Administration ALLISON J. CHEUNG, CSBN 244651 4 Special Assistant United States Attorney 5 160 Spear Street, Suite 800 San Francisco, California 94105 6 Telephone: (415) 977-8942 Facsimile: (415) 744-0134 7 E-Mail: allison.cheung@ssa.gov 8 Attorneys for Defendant 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 SACRAMENTO DIVISION 12 13 ) Case No.: 2:18-cv-00611-DMC KELLY BARNES, ) 14 ) STIPULATION FOR THE AWARD AND Plaintiff, ) PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES AND 15 ) EXPENSES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL vs. ) ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. 16 ) § 2412(d); ORDER ANDREW SAUL, ) 17 Commissioner of Social Security, ) ) 18 ) Defendant. ) 19 20 21 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their undersigned 22 counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff Kelly Barnes be awarded attorney fees 23 and expenses in the amount of twelve thousand dollars ($12,000.00) under the Equal Access to 24 Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), and no costs under 28 U.S.C. § 1920.1 This amount 25 1 A plaintiff normally has 90 days from the issuance of a judgment to file for EAJA fees. Brown 26 v. Shalala, 859 F. Supp. 1304, 1307 (E.D. Cal. 1994). To allow the parties additional time to meet and confer over EAJA fees, the Commissioner waived the statutory, non-jurisdictional 27 deadline so that the parties could engage in settlement negotiations, the result of which is the 28 agreement contained in this stipulation. The parties stipulate and agree that this stipulation is timely filed for purposes of an award of EAJA fees. represents compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in 1 connection with this civil action, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920, 2412(d). 2 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff Kelly Barnes, the government 3 will consider the matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to Robert C. Weems. Pursuant 4 to Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 598, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 177 L.Ed.2d 91 (2010), the ability to 5 honor the assignment will depend on whether the fees are subject to any offset allowed under 6 the United States Department of the Treasury’s Offset Program. After the order for EAJA fees 7 is entered, the government will determine whether they are subject to any offset. 8 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff Kelly Barnes, but if the Department of the 9 Treasury determines that Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause 10 the payment of fees and expenses to be made directly to Robert C. Weems, pursuant to the 11 assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any payments made shall be delivered to counsel Robert C. 12 Weems. 13 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for EAJA 14 attorney fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant under 15 the EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall constitute a complete release 16 from, and bar to, any and all claims that Plaintiff Kelly Barnes and/or Robert C. Weems, 17 including Weems Law Offices may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection with this 18 action. 19 // 20 // 21 // 22 // 23 // 24 // 25 // 26 // 27 // 28 Respectfully submitted, 1 2 Dated: December 4, 2019 /s/ Robert C. Weems (*as authorized via email on December 3, 2019) 3 ROBERT C. WEEMS Attorney for Plaintiff 4 5 Dated: December 4, 2019 McGREGOR W. SCOTT United States Attorney 6 DEBORAH LEE STACHEL Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX 7 Social Security Administration 8 By: /s/ Allison J. Cheung 9 ALLISON J. CHEUNG 10 Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Attorneys for Defendant 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 ORDER > Based upon the parties’ Stipulation for the Award and Payment of Attorney Fees and 3 Expenses Pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), IT IS ORDERED 4 that fees and expenses in the amount of $12,000.00 as authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 2412, and no 5 costs under 28 U.S.C. § 1920, be awarded subject to the terms of the Stipulation. 6 7 Dated: December 5, 2019 Seo 8 DENNIS M. CO UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Stip. & Prop. Order for EAJA.; 2:18-cv-00611-DMC 4