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

1 McGREGOR W. SCOTT United States Attorney 2 PETER K. THOMPSON (HI 5890) Acting Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX 3 Social Security Administration 4 MARCELO ILLARMO (MABN 670079) Special Assistant United States Attorney 5 160 Spear Street, Suite 800 San Francisco, California 94105 6 Telephone: (415) 977-8944 7 Facsimile: (415) 744-0134 Email: Marcelo.Illarmo@ssa.gov 8 Attorneys for Defendant 9 10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 VIRGINIA ROSE MORENO, ) Case No. 1:20-cv-01355-BAK 12 ) Plaintiff ) STIPULATION AND 13 ) ORDER FOR AWARD OF ATTORNEY’S 14 v. ) FEES UNDER THE EQUAL ACCESS TO ) JUSTICE ACT (EAJA) 15 KILOLO KIJAKAZI, ) Acting Commissioner of Social Security, ) 16 ) 17 Defendant ) ) 18 ____________________________________) 19 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their undersigned counsel, 20 subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff shall be awarded attorney’s fees an expenses under 21 the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. sec. 2412(d), in the amount of Five Thousand 22 Three Hundred Sixty-Six Dollars and Forty-Three Cents ($5,366.43), and no costs under 28 U.S.C. § 23 1920. This amount represents compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by 24 counsel in connection with this civil action, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920; 2412(d). After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will consider the 25 matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to her counsel, the Olinksy Law Group. Pursuant to 26 Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 598, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 177 L.Ed.2d 91 (2010), the ability to honor the 27 assignment will depend on whether the fees are subject to any offset allowed under the United States 28 1 Department of the Treasury’s Offset Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the 2 government will determine whether they are subject to any offset. Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury determines that 3 Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause the payment of fees, expenses 4 and costs to be made directly to the Olinsky Group, pursuant to the assignment executed by Plaintiff. 5 Any payments made shall be delivered to the Olinsky Group. 6 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for EAJA attorney 7 fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant under the EAJA or 8 otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any 9 and all claims that Plaintiff and/or Stuart T. Barasch, including his firm, the Olinsky Law Group may 10 have relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection with this action. This award is without prejudice to the rights of Stuart T. Barasch or the Olinsky Law Group 11 to seek Social Security Act attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause 12 provisions of the EAJA . 13 14 15 Respectfully submitted, 16 Dated: January 10, 2022 17 By: /s/ Stuart T. Barasch* 18 STUART T. BARASCH, * By email authorization on 1/6/22 19 Attorney for Plaintiff 20 21 Dated: January 10, 2022 McGREGOR W. SCOTT United States Attorney 22 By: /s/ Marcelo Illarmo 23 MARCELO ILLARMO 24 Special Assistant United States Attorney 25 26 27 28 1 ORDER 2 Based upon the parties’ Stipulation for the Award and Payment of Equal Access to Justice Act 3 Fees, Costs, and Expenses, filed on January 10, 2022 (Doc. 22): 4 IT IS ORDERED that fees and expenses in the amount of FIVE THOUSAND THREE- 5 HUNDRED SIXTY-SIX DOLLARS AND 43/100 ($ 5,366.43) as authorized by the Equal Access to 6 Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), and no costs under 28 U.S.C. §1920 be awarded subject to 7 the terms of the Stipulation. 8 Further, as a result of this order, the Clerk of Court is directed to terminate Plaintiff’s motion 9 for attorney fees (Doc. 21.) 10 11 IT IS SO ORDERED. 12 Dated: January 17, 2022 /s/ Barbara A. McAuliffe _ 13 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28