(SS) Tollison 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 BEN A. PORTER Special Assistant United States Attorney 5 160 Spear Street, Suite 800 6 San Francisco, California 94105 Tel: (415) 977-8979 7 Fax: (415) 744-0134 8 E-mail: Ben.Porter@ssa.gov Attorneys for Defendant 9 10 Meghan O. Lambert, Esq. 11 Osterhout Berger Disability Law, LLC 521 Cedar Way, Suite 200 12 Oakmont, PA 15139 13 Phone: 412-794-8003 Meghan@mydisabilityattorney.com 14 CA Bar ID: 258040 15 Attorney for Plaintiff, Jackie Tollison 16 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 17 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 18 FRESNO DIVISION 19 JACKIE TOLLISON, Case No. 1:19-cv-00142-BAM 20 Plaintiff, STIPULATION AND 21 ORDER FOR THE AWARD OF 22 v. ATTORNEY FEES UNDER THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT (EAJA) 23 ANDREW SAUL, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) 24 Commissioner of Social Security, 25 Defendant. 26 TO THE HONORABLE BARBARA A. MCAULIFFE, MAGISTRATE JUDGE 27 OF THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT: 1 The Parties through their undersigned counsel, subject to the Court’s approval, 2 stipulate that Plaintiff be awarded attorney fees in the amount of SIX THOUSAND, 3 SEVEN HUNDRED FIFTY DOLLARS and 00/100 ($6,750.00) under the Equal 4 Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). This amount represents 5 compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in 6 connection with this civil action, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). 7 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will 8 consider the matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to counsel. Pursuant to 9 Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 598, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 177 L.Ed.2d 91 (2010), the ability 10 to honor the assignment will depend on whether the fees are subject to any offset 11 allowed under the United States Department of the Treasury’s Offset Program. After 12 the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine whether they are 13 subject to any offset. 14 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury 15 16 determines that Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause 17 the payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made directly to counsel, pursuant to the 18 assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any payments made shall be delivered to Plaintiff’s 19 counsel, Meghan O. Lambert at 521 Cedar Way, Suite 200, Oakmont, Pennsylvania 20 15139. 21 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for 22 EAJA fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant 23 under the EAJA. Payment of SIX THOUSAND, SEVEN HUNDRED FIFTY 24 DOLLARS and 00/100 ($6750.00) in EAJA attorney fees. These payments shall 25 constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any and all claims that Plaintiff and 26 Plaintiff’s attorney, Meghan O. Lambert, may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in 27 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: February 17, 2020 /s/ Meghan O. Lambert 7 M EGHAN O. LAMBERT Attorney for Plaintiff 8 9 Dated: February 18, 2020 MCGREGOR W. SCOTT 10 United States Attorney DEBORAH LEE STACHEL 11 Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX 12 Social Security Administration 13 By: /s/ Michael Marriott obo Ben Porter * 14 BEN A. PORTER Special Assistant U.S. Attorney 15 Attorneys for Defendant 16 (*Permission to use electronic signature obtained via email on 2/18/20). 17 18 19 ORDER 20 Based upon the parties’ stipulation, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that, pursuant to 21 28 U.S.C. §2412, fees in the amount of six thousand seven hundred fifty dollars and no 22 23 cents ($6,750.00) be awarded subject to the terms of the Stipulation. IT IS SO ORDERED. 24 25 Dated: February 20, 2020 /s/ Barbara A. McAuliffe _ UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 26 27