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

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 NORMA ALICIA GARCIA, Case No. 1:20-cv-1746-HBK 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S STIPULATED MOTION FOR ATTORNEY'S 13 v. FEES AND COSTS UNDER THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT 14 COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, (Doc. No. 19) 15 Defendant. 16 17 Pending before the court is Plaintiff’s stipulated motion for attorney fees, filed September 18 9, 2021. (Doc. No. 19). Plaintiff seeks attorney’s fees in the amount of $457.70 under the Equal 19 Access to Justice Act (“EAJA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2412. (Id.). 20 On August 3, 2021, this court granted the parties’ Stipulation for Voluntary Remand 21 pursuant to Sentence Four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) and reversed and remanded the case to the 22 Commissioner for further administrative proceedings. (Doc. No. 16). The Clerk entered 23 judgment in favor of Plaintiff on that same day. (Doc. No. 17). Accordingly, as the prevailing 24 party, Plaintiff now requests an award of fees. See 28 U.S.C. § 2412(a) & (d)(1)(A); Fed. R. Civ. 25 P. 54(d)(1); see 28 U.S.C. § 1920; cf. Shalala v. Schaefer, 509 U.S. 292, 300-02 (1993) 26 (concluding that a party who wins a sentence-four remand order under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) is a 27 prevailing party). 28 The Commissioner does not oppose the requested relief. (See Doc. No. 19 at 1). After 1 | issuance of an order awarding EAJA fees and costs, however, the United States Department of the 2 | Treasury will determine whether Plaintiff owes a debt to the government. If Plaintiff has no 3 || discernable federal debt, the government will accept Plaintiffs assignment of EAJA fees and pay 4 | the fees directly to Plaintiffs counsel. 5 Accordingly, it is ORDERED: 6 1. Plaintiffs stipulated motion for attorney’s fees (Doc. No. 19) is GRANTED. 7 2. Plaintiff is awarded fees in the amount of $457.70 (four hundred fifty-seven dollars and 8 || seventy cents). Unless the Department of Treasury determines that Plaintiff owes a federal debt, 9 | the government must pay the fees to Plaintiff's counsel in accordance with Plaintiff's assignment 10 | of fees and subject to the terms of the stipulated motion. 11 12 Dated: _ September 29, 2021 Mila Zh. foareh Zack 13 HELENA M. BARCH-KUCHTA 4 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28