(SS) Rathburn v. Commissioner of Social Security ( 2021 )

1 PHILIP A. TALBERT Acting United States Attorney 2 DEBORAH LEE STACHEL 3 Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX Social Security Administration 4 CASPAR CHAN, CSBN 294804 Special Assistant United States Attorney 5 160 Spear Street, Suite 800 6 San Francisco, California 94105 Telephone: (510) 970-4810 7 Facsimile: (415) 744-0134 E-Mail: Caspar.Chan@ssa.gov 8 Attorneys for Defendant 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT Attorneys for Defendant 10 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 Attorneys for Defendant SACRAMENTO DIVISION 12 13 GABRIEL RATHBURN, ) Civil No. 2:20-cv-1466-DMC (SS) 14 ) Plaintiff, ) STIPULATION AND ORDER THE 15 ) v. ) AWARD AND PAYMENT OF 16 ) ATTORNEY FEES AND EXPENSES ANDREW SAUL, ) PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS 17 Commissioner of Social Security, ) ) T AO ND J U CS OT SI TC SE PA UC RT S, U2 A8 NU T.S . TC O. § 2 2 84 U12 .S(d .C), . § 18 ) Defendant. 1920 ) 19 ) 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their undersigned counsel, 2 subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff be awarded attorney fees and expenses in the amount 3 of SIX HUNDRED dollars and NO cents ($600.00) under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 4 U.S.C. § 2412(d) and FOUR HUNDRED dollars and NO cents ($400.00) in costs under 28 U.S.C. 5 § 1920. This amount represents compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by 6 counsel in connection with this civil action, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920; 2412(d). 7 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will consider the 8 matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to counsel. Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 9 598, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 177 L.Ed.2d 91 (2010), the ability to honor the assignment will depend on whether 10 the fees are subject to any offset allowed under the United States Department of the Treasury’s Offset 11 Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine whether they are 12 subject to any offset. 13 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury determines that 14 Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause the payment of fees, expenses and 15 costs to be made directly to Plaintiff’s counsel, pursuant to the assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any 16 payments made shall be delivered to Plaintiff’s counsel. 17 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for EAJA attorney 18 fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant under the EAJA or 19 otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any and 20 all claims that Plaintiff and/or counsel including counsel’s firm may have relating to EAJA attorney fees 21 in connection with this action. 22 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Plaintiff’s counsel to seek Social Security Act 23 attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause provisions of the EAJA. 24 /// 25 /// 26 /// 27 /// 28 /// 1 Respectfully submitted, 2 3 || Date: June 1, 2021 CHARLES E. BINDER & HARRY J. BINDER, LLP 4 By: /s/ Caspar Chan for Young Bin Yim * 5 YOUNG BIN YIM *Authorized by email on June 1, 2021 6 Attorneys for Plaintiff 7 || Date: June 1, 2021 PHILIP A. TALBERT 8 Acting United States Attorney Eastern District of California 9 By: /s/Caspar Chan 10 CASPAR CHAN 11 Special Assistant United States Attorney Attorneys for Defendant 12 13 14 15 16 ORDER 17 APPROVED AND SO ORDERED 18 19 Dated: June 1, 2021 20 DENNIS M. CO 21 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 22 23 24 25 26 27 28