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

1 PETER E. BRIXIE, Bar #124186 Attorney at Law 2 410 Twelfth Street, Suite One Sacramento, CA 95814 3 Telephone: (916) 658-1880 Fax: (916) 658-1884 E-mail: peterbrixie@gmail.com 4 Attorney for MATTHEW SMITH 5 UNITED STATE DISTRICT COURT 6 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 7 MATTHEW SMITH, No. 2:20-cv-1414 DB Plaintiff, 8 STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR 9 vs. PAYMENT OF PLAINTIFF’S ATTORNEY FEES 10 COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, Defendant 11 To the honorable DEBORAH BARNES, it is hereby stipulated by and between the 12 parties through their undersigned counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that MATTHEW 13 SMITH be awarded attorney fees and expenses in the amount of $6500.00 under the Equal 14 Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). This amount represents compensation for 15 all legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action, in 16 accordance with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920; 2412(d). After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to MATTHEW SMITH, the government 17 will consider the matter of assignment of EAJA fees to PETER BRIXIE. The retainer agreement 18 containing the assignment is attached as exhibit 1. Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 19 2529 (2010), the ability to honor the assignment will depend on whether the fees are subject to 20 any offset allowed under the United States Department of the Treasury's Offset Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine whether they are subject to 21 any offset. 22 Fees shall be made payable to MATTHEW SMITH, but if the Department of the 23 Treasury determines that MATTHEW SMITH does not owe a federal debt, then the government 24 shall cause the payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made directly to PETER BRIXIE pursuant to the assignment executed by MATTHEW SMITH Any payments made shall be 25 delivered to PETER BRIXIE 1 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of MATTHEW SMITH vs. 2 COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY request for EAJA attorney fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant under the EAJA or 3 otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall constitute a complete release from, and bar to, 4 any and all claims that MATTHEW SMITH may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in 5 connection with this action. This award is without prejudice to the rights of PETER BRIXIE to 6 seek Social Security Act attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause provisions of the EAJA. 7 Respectfully submitted, 8 Dated: October 15, 2021 By: /s/ Peter Brixie 9 PETER E. BRIXIE Attorney at Law 10 Attorney for Plaintiff 11 Dated: October 15, 2021 /s/Mary Tsai 12 MARY TSAI Special Assistant United States Attorney 13 Attorneys for Defendant 14 __ooo__ 15 ORDER 16 Pursuant to the parties’ stipulation, IT IS SO ORDERED. 17 DATED: October 21, 2021 /s/ DEBORAH BARNES 18 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 19 20 21 22 23 24 25