(SS) Malloy Lee v. Commissioner of Social Security ( 2020 )

BESS MURCHISON BREWER 1 Law Office of Bess M. Brewer 2 P.O. Box 5088 Sacramento, CA 95817 3 916-385-7517 Fax: 916-405-3908 4 Email: bess.m.brewer@gmail.com 5 Attorney for Plaintiff 6 MCGREGOR W. SCOTT United States Attorney 7 DEBORAH LEE STACHEL 8 Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX CAROL S. CLARK MOBN 42670 9 Special Assistant United States Attorney 10 160 Spear Street, Suite 800 San Francisco, California 94105 11 Telephone: (415) 977-8975 Facsimile: (415) 744-0134 12 E-Mail: Carol.S.Clark@ssa.gov 13 Attorneys for Defendant 14 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 15 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 16 SACRAMENTO DIVISION 17 18 ) No. 2:18-cv-2777-DB WANDA MALLOY LEE, ) 19 ) STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR THE Plaintiff, ) AWARD OF ATTORNEY FEES UNDER 20 ) ) THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT 21 ANDREW SAUL, ) (EAJA) Commissioner of Social Security, ) 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) 22 ) ) 23 Defendant. ) ) 24 25 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their 26 undersigned counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff be 27 awarded attorney fees and expenses in the amount of seven thousand five 28 hundred dollars ($7,500.00) under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 1 U.S.C. § 2412(d). This amount represents compensation for all legal services 2 rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action, in 3 accordance with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920; 2412(d). 4 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government 5 will consider the matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to counsel. 6 Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 598, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 177 L.Ed.2d 91 7 (2010), the ability to honor the assignment will depend on whether the fees are 8 subject to any offset allowed under the United States Department of the 9 Treasury’s Offset Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the 10 government will determine whether they are subject to any offset. 11 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the 12 Treasury determines that Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the 13 government shall cause the payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made 14 directly to counsel, pursuant to the assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any 15 payments made shall be delivered to counsel. 16 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request 17 for EAJA attorney fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the 18 part of Defendant under the EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount 19 shall constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any and all claims that 20 Plaintiff and/or counsel, including counsel’s firm, may have relating to EAJA 21 attorney fees in connection with this action. 22 This award is without prejudice to the rights of counsel and/or counsel’s 23 firm to seek Social Security Act attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject 24 to the savings clause provisions of the EAJA. 25 26 Respectfully submitted, 27 Dated: May 21, 2020 /s/ Bess M. Brewer 28 BESS M. BREWER Attorney for Plaintiff (signature authorized by email 1 on May 20, 2020) 2 MCGREGOR W. SCOTT 3 United States Attorney 4 DEBORAH LEE STACHEL Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX 5 Social Security Administration 6 By /s/ Carol S. Clark 7 CAROL S. CLARK Special Assistant U.S. Attorney 8 Attorneys for Defendant 9 10 11 ORDER 12 Pursuant to the parties’ stipulation, IT IS SO ORDERED. 13 DATED: MAY 26, 2020 /S/ DEBORAH BARNES 14 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28