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

1 Jonathan O. Peña, Esq. CA Bar ID No.: 278044 2 Peña & Bromberg, PLC 2440 Tulare St., Ste. 320 3 Fresno, CA 93721 Telephone: 559-439-9700 4 Facsimile: 559-439-9723 info@jonathanpena.com 5 Attorney for Plaintiff, Regina Evanovich 6 McGREGOR W. SCOTT 7 United States Attorney DEBORAH LEE STACHEL, CSBN 230138 8 Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX Social Security Administration 9 Ellinor R. Coder, 10 Special Assistant United States Attorney Assistant Regional Counsel 11 Social Security Administration, Region IX 160 Spear Street, Suite 800 12 San Francisco, California 94105 13 Tel: (415) 977-8955 Fax: (415) 744-0134 14 E-mail: ellinor.coder@ssa.gov Attorneys for Defendant 15 16 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 17 FRESNO DIVISION 18 Regina Evanovich, Case No. 1:18-cv-01438-SKO 19 Plaintiff, STIPULATION FOR THE AWARD AND 20 PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES AND v. EXPENSES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL 21 ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT; ORDER 22 ANDREW SAUL, Commissioner of Social Security, (Doc. 15) 23 Defendant. 24 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their undersigned counsel, 25 subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff be awarded attorney fees and expenses in the amount 26 of SEVEN THOUSAND DOLLARS AND 00/100, $7,000.00, under the Equal Access to Justice Act 27 (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). This amount represents compensation for all legal services rendered on 1 behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 2 2412(d). 3 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will consider the 4 matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to counsel. Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 5 598, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 177 L.Ed.2d 91 (2010), the ability to honor the assignment will depend on 6 whether the fees are subject to any offset allowed under the United States Department of the 7 Treasury’s Offset Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine 8 whether they are subject to any offset. 9 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury determines that 10 Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause the payment of fees, expenses 11 and costs to be made directly to Counsel, pursuant to the assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any 12 payments made shall be delivered to Plaintiff’s counsel, Jonathan O. Peña. 13 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for EAJA attorney 14 fees and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant under the EAJA or 15 otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any 16 and all claims that Plaintiff and/or Counsel including Counsel’s firm may have relating to EAJA 17 attorney fees in connection with this action. 18 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Counsel and/or Counsel’s firm to seek Social 19 Security Act attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause provisions of the 20 EAJA. 21 Respectfully submitted, 22 23 Dated: October 15, 2020 /s/ Jonathan O. Peña 24 J ONATHAN O. PEÑA Attorney for Plaintiff 25 26 Dated: October 15, 2020 McGREGOR W. SCOTT United States Attorney 27 DEBORAH LEE STACHEL Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX 1 Social Security Administration 2 By: _*_Ellinor R. Coder Ellinor R. Coder 3 Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Attorneys for Defendant 4 (*Permission to use electronic signature obtained via email on October 15, 2020). 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 ORDER 2 Based upon the parties’ above “Stipulation for the Award and Payment of Attorney Fees and 3 Expenses Pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act” (the “Stipulation”) (Doc. 15, erroneously filed 4 as a motion), IT IS ORDERED that attorney’s fees in the amount of SEVEN THOUSAND 5 DOLLARS AND 00/100 ($7,000.00), as authorized under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 6 U.S.C. § 2412(d), be awarded subject to the terms of the Stipulation. 7 8 IT IS SO ORDERED. 9 Sheila K. Oberto 10 Dated: October 16, 2020 /s/ . 11 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27