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

1 PHILLIP A. TALBERT Acting United States Attorney 2 DEBORAH L. STACHEL Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX 3 SATHYA OUM 4 Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Social Security Administration 5 160 Spear Street, Suite 800 San Francisco, CA 94105 6 Telephone: (510) 970-4846 7 Facsimile: (415) 744-0134 Email: Sathya.Oum@ssa.gov 8 9 Attorneys for Defendant 10 11 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 12 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 13 SACRAMENTO DIVISION 14 GARY RAYMOND SWINHART, Case No. 2:20-cv-1955-KJM-CKD 15 Plaintiff, STIPULATION FOR THE AWARD AND 16 PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES AND 17 v. EXPENSES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT; ORDER 18 KILOLO KIJAKAZI1, Acting 19 Commissioner of Social Security, 20 Defendant. 21 22 23 24 25 1 Kilolo Kijakazi became the Acting Commissioner of Social Security on July 9, 2021. Pursuant to Rule 25(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Kilolo Kijakazi should be 26 substituted, therefore, for Andrew Saul as the defendant in this suit. No further action need be taken to continue this suit by reason of the last sentence of section 205(g) of the Social 27 Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). 1 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their undersigned 2 counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff be awarded attorney fees and 3 expenses in the amount of $ 1,531.80, plus $225.00 in costs, under the Equal Access to Justice 4 Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). This amount represents compensation for all legal services 5 rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action, in accordance 6 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 counsel. Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 9 U.S. 586, 598, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 177 L.Ed.2d 91 (2010), the ability to honor the assignment will 10 depend on whether the fees are subject to any offset allowed under the United States 11 Department of the Treasury’s Offset Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the 12 government will determine whether they are subject to any offset. 13 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury 14 determines that Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause the 15 payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made directly to Counsel, pursuant to the 16 assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any payments made shall be delivered to Plaintiff’s 17 counsel, Ashish A. Agrawal. 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 the EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall constitute a complete release 21 from, and bar to, any and all claims that Plaintiff and/or Counsel including Counsel’s firm 22 may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection with this action. 23 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Counsel and/or Counsel’s firm to seek 24 Social Security Act attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause 25 provisions of the EAJA. 26 27 1 2 Respectfully submitted, 3 4 || Dated: September 19, 2021 /s/ Ashish A. Agrawal 5 ASHISH A. AGRAWAL Attorney for Plaintiff 6 (authorized by email on September 19, 2021) 7 8 || Dated: September 19, 2021 PHILLIP A. TALBERT 9 Acting United States Attorney DEBORAH LEE STACHEL 10 Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX 1 Social Security Administration 12 By: Sathya Oum SATHYA OUM 13 Special Assistant U.S. Attorney 14 Attorneys for Defendant 15 16 ORDER 17 18 Based upon the parties’ Stipulation for the Award and Payment of Equal Access to 19 || Justice Act Fees and Expenses, IT IS ORDERED that: 20 1. Plaintiff's motion for attorney’s fees (ECF No. 18) is denied as moot; and 21 59 2. Costs in the amount of $225.00 and fees in the amount of $1,531.80 as authorized 73 by 28 U.S.C. § 2412 be awarded subject to the terms of the Stipulation. . o> ") iy □ } ¥ 24 Dated: September 21, 2021 (ard jf le lg. a 25 CAROLYN K. DELANEY 26 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 27 28 -3-