(SS) Degraffenreid v. Commissioner of Social Security ( 2021 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JONATHAN ANDREW No. 1:20-CV-00338 (HBK) DEGRAFFENREID, 12 Plaintiff, 13 ORDER GRANTNG AWARD AND v. PAYMENT OF ATTORNEYS FEES UNDER 14 THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT COMMISSIONER OF 15 SOCIAL SECURITY, (Doc. No. 23) 16 Defendant. 17 18 19 20 21 Pending before the court is plaintiff’s stipulated motion for attorney fees, filed March 15, 22 2021. (Doc. No. 23). Plaintiff seeks attorney’s fees in the amount of $620.30 under the Equal 23 Access to Justice Act (“EAJA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2412. (Id.). 24 On January 11, 2021, this Court granted the parties’ Stipulation for Voluntary Remand 25 pursuant to Sentence Four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) and reversed and remanded the case to the 26 Commissioner for further administrative proceedings. (Doc. No. 21). The Clerk entered 27 judgment in favor of plaintiff thereafter. (Doc. No. 22). Accordingly, as the prevailing party, 28 plaintiff now requests an award of fees. See 28 U.S.C. § 2412(a) & (d)(1)(A); Fed. R. Civ. P. 1 | 54(d)(1); see 28 U.S.C. § 1920; cf. Shalala v. Schaefer, 509 U.S. 292, 300-02 (1993) (concluding 2 | that a party who wins a sentence-four remand order under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) is a prevailing 3 | party). 4 The Commissioner does not oppose the requested relief. (See Doc. No. 23). After 5 || issuance of an order awarding EAJA fees and costs, however, the United States Department of the 6 | Treasury will determine whether plaintiff owes a debt to the government. If plaintiff has no 7 | discernable federal debt, the government will accept plaintiff's assignment of EAJA fees and pay 8 | the fees directly to plaintiff's counsel. 9 Accordingly, it is ORDERED: 10 1. Plaintiffs stipulated motion for attorney fees (Doc. No. 23) is GRANTED. 11 2. Plaintiff is awarded fees in the amount of six hundred twenty dollars and thirty cents 12 | ($620.30). Unless the Department of Treasury determines that plaintiff owes a federal debt, the 13 | government must pay the fees to plaintiff's counsel in accordance with plaintiffs assignment of 14 | fees and subject to the terms of the stipulated motion. 15 16 IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: March 16, 2021 Mihaw. Wh. foareh Zaskth 18 HELENA M. BARCH-KUCHTA 19 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28