(SS) Purcella v. Commissioner of Social Security ( 2020 )

1 McGREGOR W. SCOTT United States Attorney 2 DEBORAH LEE STACHEL, CSBN 230138 Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX 3 Social Security Administration 4 Jeffrey Chen 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) 977-8956 9 Fax: (415) 744-0134 E-mail: Jeffrey.Chen@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, Serina Teresa Purcella 18 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 19 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 20 FRESNO DIVISION 21 Serina Teresa Purcella, Case No. 1:18-cv-01010-SKO 22 Plaintiff, STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR THE 23 AWARD OF ATTORNEY FEES UNDER 24 v. THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT (EAJA) 25 Andrew Saul, Commissioner of 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) 26 Social Security, (Doc. 29) 27 Defendant. 1 TO THE HONORABLE SHEILA K. OBERTO , 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 SEVEN THOUSAND 5 DOLLARS AND 00/100, $7,000.00, under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 6 U.S.C. § 2412(d). This amount represents compensation for all legal services rendered 7 on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action, in accordance with 8 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 SEVEN THOUSAND DOLLARS AND 00/100, 25 $7,000.00, in EAJA attorney fees shall constitute a complete release from, and bar to, 26 any and all claims that Plaintiff and Plaintiff’s attorney, Jonathan O. Peña, may have 27 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: January 27, 2020 /s/ Jonathan O. Peña 7 J ONATHAN O. PEÑA Attorney for Plaintiff 8 9 Dated: January 27, 2020 McGREGOR W. SCOTT 10 United States Attorney DEBORAH LEE STACHEL 11 Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX 12 Social Security Administration 13 By: _*_Jeffrey Chen 14 Jeffrey Chen Special Assistant U.S. Attorney 15 Attorneys for Defendant 16 (*Permission to use electronic signature obtained via email on January 27, 2020). 17 18 ORDER 19 Based upon the parties’ above “Stipulation for the Award and Payment of Attorney 20 Fees Under the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. §2412(d)” (the “Stipulation”) 21 (Doc. 29), IT IS ORDERED that attorney’s fees in the amount of SEVEN THOUSAND 22 23 DOLLARS AND 00/100, $7,000.00 as authorized under the Equal Access to Justice Act 24 (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), be awarded subject to the terms of the Stipulation. 25 IT IS SO ORDERED. 26 Sheila K. Oberto 27 Dated: January 28, 2020 /s/ . UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27