(SS) Ramirez De Fuentes 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 MARIA SOCORRO RAMIREZ DE No. 1:20-cv-00685-HBK FUENTES, 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. 19) 16 Defendant. 17 18 19 20 21 Pending before the court is plaintiff’s stipulated motion for attorney fees filed April 1, 22 2021. (Doc. No. 19). Plaintiff seeks attorney’s fees and expenses in the amount of $2,825.00 23 pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act (“EAJA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2412. (Id.). 24 On March 1, 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. 18). Plaintiff now requests an 27 award of fees as the prevailing party under that order. See 28 U.S.C. § 2412(a) & (d)(1)(A); Fed. 28 R. Civ. P. 54(d)(1); see 28 U.S.C. § 1920; cf. Shalala v. Schaefer, 509 U.S. 292, 300-02 (1993) 1 | (concluding that a party who wins a sentence-four remand order under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) is a 2 | prevailing party). 3 The Commissioner does not oppose the requested relief. (See Doc. No. 19 at 3). After 4 | issuance of an order awarding EAJA fees and costs, the United States Department of the Treasury 5 | will determine whether plaintiff owes a debt to the government. If plaintiff has no discernable 6 | federal debt, the government will accept plaintiffs assignment of EAJA fees and pay the fees 7 | directly to plaintiffs counsel. 8 Accordingly, it is ORDERED: 9 1. Plaintiff's stipulated motion for attorney fees and expenses (Doc. No. 19) is 10 | GRANTED. 11 2. Plaintiff is awarded fees in the amount of two thousand eight hundred and twenty-five 12 | dollars ($2,825.00) in attorney fees and expenses. Unless the Department of Treasury determines 13 | that plaintiff owes a federal debt, the government must pay the fees to plaintiffs counsel in 14 | accordance with plaintiffs assignment of fees and subject to the terms of the stipulated motion. 15 16 IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: April 6, 2021 Mile. Wh fareh Zaskth 18 HELENA M. BARCH-KUCHTA 19 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28