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

1 McGREGOR W. SCOTT United States Attorney 2 DEBORAH LEE STACHEL 3 Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX Social Security Administration 4 IN SEON JEONG, CSBN 291908 Special Assistant United States Attorney 5 160 Spear Street, Suite 800 6 San Francisco, California 94105 Telephone: (415) 977-8984 7 Facsimile: (415) 744-0134 E-Mail: Inseon.Jeong@ssa.gov 8 Attorneys for Defendant 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT Attorneys for Defendant 10 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 Attorneys for Defendant FRESNO DIVISION 12 13 PANG VANG, Case No. 1:19-cv-01663-SKO 14 Plaintiff, STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR 15 THE AWARD AND PAYMENT OF 16 ATTORNEY FEES AND EXPENSES v. PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL 17 ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), AND COSTS PURSUANT 18 TO 28 U.S.C. § 1920 19 ANDREW SAUL, Commissioner of Social Security, (Doc. 26) 20 Defendant. 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their undersigned counsel, 2 subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff be awarded attorney fees and expenses in the amount 3 of SEVEN THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED dollars ($7,500) under the Equal Access to Justice Act 4 (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) AND no costs under 28 U.S.C. § 1920. This amount represents 5 compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this 6 civil action, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920; 2412(d). 7 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will consider the 8 matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to counsel. Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 9 598, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 177 L.Ed.2d 91 (2010), the ability to honor the assignment will depend on whether 10 the fees are subject to any offset allowed under the United States Department of the Treasury’s Offset 11 Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine whether they are 12 subject to any offset. 13 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury determines that 14 Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause the payment of fees, expenses and 15 costs to be made directly to counsel, pursuant to the assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any payments 16 made shall be delivered to counsel. 17 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for EAJA attorney 18 fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant under the EAJA or 19 otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any and 20 all claims that Plaintiff and/or counsel including counsel’s firm may have relating to EAJA attorney fees 21 in connection with this action. 22 This award is without prejudice to the rights of counsel to seek Social Security Act attorney fees 23 under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause provisions of the EAJA. 24 /// 25 /// 26 /// 27 /// 1 Respectfully submitted, 2 Date: December 9, 2020 PEÑA & BROMBERG, PLC 3 By: /s/ In Seon Jeong for Jonathan Pena* 4 JONATHAN PEÑA 5 DOLLY M. TROMPETER *Authorized by email on December 8, 2020 6 Attorneys for Plaintiff 7 Date: December 9, 2020 McGREGOR W. SCOTT United States Attorney 8 9 By: /s/ In Seon Jeong IN SEON JEONG 10 Special Assistant United States Attorney Attorneys for Defendant 11 Of Counsel for the Defendant: 12 13 CASPAR I. CHAN Assistant Regional Counsel 14 15 16 ORDER 17 Based upon the parties’ above “Stipulation for the Award and Payment of Attorney Fees and 18 Expenses Pursuant to the Equal Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), and Costs Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 19 1920” (the “Stipulation”) (Doc. 26), 20 IT IS ORDERED that attorney fees and expenses in the amount of SEVEN THOUSAND FIVE 21 HUNDRED dollars ($7,500) under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), and 22 no costs under 28 U.S.C. § 1920 be awarded subject to the terms of the Stipulation. 23 IT IS SO ORDERED. 24 Sheila K. Oberto 25 Dated: December 9, 2020 /s/ . UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 26 27