(SS) Contrashas Smith 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 Carol S. Clark, MOBN 42670 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) 977-8975 9 E-mail: carol.s.clark@ssa.gov Attorneys for Defendant 10 11 Jonathan O. Peña, Esq. CA Bar ID No.: 278044 12 Peña & Bromberg, PLC 13 2440 Tulare St., Ste. 320 Fresno, CA 93721 14 Telephone: 559-439-9700 15 Facsimile: 559-439-9700 info@jonathanpena.com 16 Attorney for Plaintiff, Shawn Paul Smith 17 18 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 19 20 Sierra Smith, No. 2.19-cv-01312-DB 21 22 Plaintiff, STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR THE AWARD OF ATTORNEY FEES UNDER 23 v. THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT 24 (EAJA) Andrew Saul, Commissioner of 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) 25 Social Security, 26 Defendant. 27 1 The Parties through their undersigned counsel, subject to the Court’s approval, 2 stipulate that Plaintiff be awarded attorney fees in the amount SIX THOUSAND FIVE 3 HUNDRED DOLLARS AND 00/100, ($6,500.00), under the Equal Access to Justice 4 Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). This amount represents compensation for all legal 5 services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action, 6 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 to be made directly to counsel, pursuant to the assignment executed 18 by Plaintiff. Any payments made shall be delivered to Plaintiff’s counsel, Jonathan O. 19 Peña. 20 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for 21 EAJA fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant 22 under the EAJA or otherwise. Payment of SIX THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED 23 DOLLARS AND 00/100, ($6,500.00), in EAJA attorney fees shall constitute a 24 complete release from, and bar to, any and all claims that Plaintiff and Plaintiff’s 25 attorney, Jonathan O. Peña and / or Peña & Bromberg, PLC, may have relating to EAJA 26 attorney fees in connection with this action. 27 1 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Plaintiff’s attorney and / or Peña 2 & Bromberg, PLC to seek Social Security Act attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), 3 subject to the savings clause provisions of the EAJA. 4 Respectfully submitted, 5 6 Dated: December 16, 2020 /s/ Jonathan O. Peña 7 J ONATHAN O. PEÑA Attorney for Plaintiff 8 (*Permission to use electronic 9 signature obtained via email on 10 D ecember 16, 2020). 11 Dated :December 16, 2020 McGREGOR W. SCOTT 12 United States Attorney DEBORAH LEE STACHEL 13 Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX 14 Social Security Administration 15 By: _*_Carol S. Clark 16 Carol S. Clark Special Assistant U.S. Attorney 17 Attorneys for Defendant 18 19 ORDER 20 21 Pursuant to the parties’ stipulation, IT IS SO ORDERED. 22 DATED: December 18, 2020 /S/ DEBORAH BARNES 23 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 24 25 26 27