(SS) Britt v. Commissioner of Social Security ( 2020 )

1 Melissa Newel (CABN #148563) NEWEL LAW 2 2625 Alcatraz Ave., Suite 132 Berkeley, CA 94704 3 (510) 316-3827 4 mnewel@newellawfirm.com 5 Attorney for Plaintiff COMMIE MARINA BRITT 6 7 MCGREGOR W. SCOTT United States Attorney 8 DEBORAH LEE STACHEL Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX 9 MARCELO ILLARMO (MABN #670079) Social Security Administration 10 160 Spear Street, Suite 800 11 San Francisco, CA 94105 (415) 977-8944 12 Marcelo.Illarmo@ssa.gov 13 Attorneys for Defendant 14 15 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 16 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 17 18 COMMIE MARINA BRITT, No. 1:19-cv-01660 (EPG) 19 Plaintiff, 20 v. STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR 21 AWARD AND PAYMENT OF ANDREW SAUL, ATTORNEYS FEES PURSUANT TO THE 22 COMMISSIONER OF EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT (28 SOCIAL SECURITY, U.S.C. §2412(d)) 23 Defendant. 24 (ECF No. 13) 25 26 27 28 1 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties, through their undersigned 2 attorneys, subject to the approval of the Court, that Commie Marina Britt (Plaintiff) be awarded 3 attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. §2412 (d), in the amount 4 of five hundred and two dollars and eighty-six cents ($502.86). This represents compensation for 5 legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action, in 6 accordance with 28 U.S.C. §2412 (d). 7 After the Court issues an Order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will consider 8 the matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to Plaintiff’s attorney. Pu rsuant to Astrue v. 9 Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 598 (2010), the ability to honor the assignment will depend on whether the 10 attorney fees are subject to any offset allowed under the United States Department of the 11 Treasury’s Offset Program. After the Order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will 12 determine whether they are subject to any offset. 13 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury determines 14 that Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt subject to offset, then the government shall cause the 15 payment of fees approved to be made payable to Melissa Newel or Newel Law (collectively 16 “Plaintiff’s counsel”), pursuant to the assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any and all payments 17 made shall be delivered to Plaintiff’s counsel. 18 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for EAJA 19 attorney fees and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant under 20 EAJA. Payment of the agreed amount shall constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any 21 and all claims that Plaintiff and/or Plaintiff’s counsel may have relating to EAJA attorney fees 22 and expenses in connection with this action. 23 /// 24 /// 25 /// 26 /// 27 /// 28 1 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Plaintiff’s counsel to seek Social Security 2 Act attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. §406(b), subject to the provisions of the EAJA. 3 Respectfully submitted, 4 Dated: March 9, 2020 NEWEL LAW 5 6 By: Melissa Newel 7 Melissa Newel Attorney for Plaintiff 8 COMMIE MARINA B RITT 9 10 Dated: March 9, 2020 MCGREGOR W. SCOTT United States Attorney 11 DEBORAH LEE STACHEL Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX 12 Social Security Administration 13 By: Marcelo Illarmo* 14 MARCELO ILLARMO (*Authorized by email dated 03/09/2020 15 Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Attorneys for Defendant 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 ORDER 2 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §2412, fees in the amount of five hundred and two dollars and eighty-six cents ($502.86) are awarded to Plaintiff subject to the terms of the parties’ stipulation (ECF No. 13). 7 | IT IS SO ORDERED. | Dated: _ March 10, 2020 [JP hy — 9 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28