(SS) Voorhees v. Commissioner of Social Security ( 2022 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 JERIANNE R. VOORHEES, Case No.: 2:20-cv-00916-JDP 10 Plaintiff, STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR THE 11 v. AWARD OF ATTORNEY FEES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE 12 KILOLO KIJAKAZI, ACT, 28 U.S.C. § 2412 Acting Commissioner of the Social Security 13 Administration, ECF Nos. 29, 31 14 Defendant. 15 16 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their undersigned 17 counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff be awarded attorney fees, expenses, and 18 costs in the above-entitled action in the amount of $5,531.28, consisting of $5,509.98 in fees and 19 $21.30 in expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). This amount 20 represents compensation for all legal services and expenses incurred on behalf of Plaintiff by 21 counsel in connection with this civil action. 22 Upon the Court’s issuance of an order granting EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will 23 determine the issue of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to Plaintiff’s attorney. Pursuant to Astrue 24 v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 597-598 (2010), the ability to honor the assignment will depend on if the 25 fees are subject to any offset allowed under the United States Department of the Treasury’s Offset 26 Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine whether they are 27 subject to any offset. 28 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury determines 1 that Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government will cause the payment of fees to be 2 made directly to Plaintiff’s attorney, LAW OFFICE OF JARED T. WALKER, P.C., pursuant to the 3 assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any payments made to Plaintiff will be delivered to JARED T. 4 WALKER. 5 This stipulation constitutes a settlement of Plaintiff’s request for EAJA attorney fees and 6 does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of defendant under the EAJA or otherwise. 7 Payment of the agreed amount will constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any and all claims 8 that Plaintiff and/or Plaintiff’s attorney, including LAW OFFICE OF JARED T. WALKER, P.C., 9 may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection with this action. 10 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Plaintiff’s counsel to seek Social Security 11 attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause provisions of the EAJA. 12 Dated: January 5, 2022 Respectfully submitted, 13 /s/ Jared Walker JARED T. WALKER, 14 Attorney for Plaintiff 15 SO STIPULATED: 16 PHILLIP A. TALBERT Acting United States Attorney 17 PETER THOMPSON Acting Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX 18 Social Security Administration 19 By: /s/ *Margaret Lehrkind 20 MARGARET LEHRKIND (*authorized by e-mail on 1/05/2022) 21 Special Assistant United States Attorney 22 Attorneys for Defendant 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 ORDER 2 Based upon the parties’ Stipulation for Award of Attorney Fees pursuant to the Equal Access 3 || to Justice Act (EAJA), ECF No. 31, plaintiff’s motion for attorney’s fees is granted, ECF No. 29, 4 || and plaintiff is awarded $5,531.28, consisting of $5,509.98 in fees and $21.30 in expenses under 28 5 || U.S.C. § 2412(d), inclusive of all amounts claimed under the EAJA, subject to and in accordance 6 || with the terms of the parties’ foregoing Stipulation. 7 8 IT IS SO ORDERED. 9 ( 1 Oy — Dated: _ January 13, 2022 Q_-——— 10 JEREMY D. PETERSON UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28