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

McGREGOR W. SCOTT 1 United States Attorney 2 DEBORAH LEE STACHEL 3 Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX CAROL S. CLARK MOBN 42670 4 Special Assistant United States Attorney 5 160 Spear Street, Suite 800 San Francisco, California 94105 6 Telephone: (415) 977-8975 7 Facsimile: (415) 744-0134 8 E-Mail: Carol.S.Clark@ssa.gov 9 Attorneys for Defendant 10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 11 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 12 13 ) No. 2:19-cv-01137-DB 14 JOHANNA ROBINNEIL BRITT, ) 15 Plaintiff, ) ) STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR ) THE AWARD AND PAYMENT OF 16 ) ATTORNEY FEES PURSUANT TO ANDREW SAUL ) 17 Commissioner of Social Security, ) THE EQUAL ACCESS TO ) JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) 18 ) Defendant. ) 19 ) 20 21 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their 22 undersigned counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff be 23 awarded attorney fees and expenses in the amount of two thousand dollars 24 ($ 2000.00) under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). 25 This amount represents compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of 26 Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action, in accordance with 28 27 U.S.C. §§ 1920; 2412(d). 28 1 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government 2 will consider the matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to counsel. 3 Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 598, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 177 L.Ed.2d 91 4 (2010), the ability to honor the assignment will depend on whether the fees are 5 subject to any offset allowed under the United States Department of the 6 Treasury’s Offset Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the 7 government will determine whether they are subject to any offset. 8 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the 9 Treasury determines that Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the 10 government shall cause the payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made 11 directly to counsel, pursuant to the assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any 12 payments made shall be delivered to counsel. 13 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request 14 for EAJA attorney fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the 15 part of Defendant under the EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount 16 shall constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any and all claims that 17 Plaintiff and/or counsel, including counsel’s firm, may have relating to EAJA 18 attorney fees in connection with this action. 19 This award is without prejudice to the rights of counsel and/or counsel’s 20 firm to seek Social Security Act attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject 21 to the savings clause provisions of the EAJA. 22 Respectfully submitted, 23 Dated: April 9, 2020 By: /s/ _Dominique Venna Ramer_________________ 24 DOMINIQUE VENNA RAMER Attorney for Plaintiff (signature authorized by 25 email on April 9, 2020 26 27 28 Dated: April 9, 2020 NICOLA T. HANNA United States Attorney 1 DAVID M. HARRIS 2 Assistant United States Attorney 3 Chief, Civil Division CEDINA M. KIM 4 Assistant United States Attorney 5 Senior Litigation Counsel, Civil Division 6 By: /s/ Carol S. Clark 7 CAROL S. CLARK 8 Special Assistant United States Attorney 9 10 ORDER 11 Pursuant to the parties’ stipulation, IT IS SO OREDERED. 12 DATED: April 10, 2020 /s/ DEBORAH BARNES UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28