(SS) Henry v. Commissioner of Social Security ( 2022 )

McGREGOR W. SCOTT 1 United States Attorney 2 PETER K. THOMPSON (HI 5890) Acting Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX 3 Social Security Administration MARCELO ILLARMO (MABN 670079) 4 Special Assistant United States Attorney 5 160 Spear Street, Suite 800 San Francisco, California 94105 6 Telephone: (415) 977-8944 Facsimile: (415) 744-0134 7 Email: Marcelo.Illarmo@ssa.gov 8 Attorneys for Defendant 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 BRENDA ANNETTE HENRY, ) Case No. 2:20-cv-02293-KJN 12 ) Plaintiff ) STIPULATION AND PROPOSED 13 ) ORDER FOR AWARD OF ATTORNEY’S 14 v. ) FEES UNDER THE EQUAL ACCESS TO ) JUSTICE ACT (EAJA) 15 KILOLO KIJAKAZI, ) Acting Commissioner of Social Security, ) 16 ) 17 Defendant ) ) 18 ____________________________________) 19 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their undersigned counsel, 20 subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff shall be awarded attorney’s fees and expenses 21 under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. sec. 2412(d), in the amount of six thousand 22 eight hundred dollars ($6,800.00), and two hundred twenty five dollars ($225.00) costs under 28 U.S.C. § 1920. This amount represents compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of 23 Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920; 24 2412(d). Accordingly, should this Court award fees and expenses under EAJA pursuant to this 25 stipulation. Plaintiff’s motion for attorney fees (ECF 23) would be moot. 26 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will consider the 27 matter of any assignment of EAJA fees by Plaintiff to her counsel Ashish A. Agrawal (Counsel). 28 Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 598, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 177 L.Ed.2d 91 (2010), the ability to honor the assignment will depend on whether the fees are subject to any offset allowed under the 1 United States Department of the Treasury’s Offset Program. After the order for EAJA fees is 2 entered, the government will determine whether they are subject to any offset. 3 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury determines that 4 Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause the payment of fees, expenses 5 and costs to be made directly to Counsel pursuant to an assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any 6 payments made shall be delivered to Counsel. 7 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for EAJA attorney 8 fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant under the EAJA or 9 otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any and all claims that Plaintiff and/or Counsel, including his firm, the Law Offices of Chermol & 10 Fishman, LLC, may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection with this action. 11 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Ashish A. Agrawal or the Law Offices of 12 Chermol & Fishman, LLC to seek Social Security Act attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject 13 to the savings clause provisions of the EAJA . 14 15 Respectfully submitted, 16 17 Dated: January 20, 2022 18 By: /s/ Ashish A. Agrawal * Ashish A. Agrawal * 19 By email authorization on 1/12/22 20 Attorney for Plaintiff 21 Dated: January 20, 2022 McGREGOR W. SCOTT 22 United States Attorney 23 By: /s/ Marcelo Illarmo 24 MARCELO ILLARMO Special Assistant United States Attorney 25 26 27 28 1 ORDER 2 Based upon the parties’ Stipulation for the Award and Payment of Equal Access to Justice Ac 3 || Fees, Costs, and Expenses, IT IS ORDERED that fees and expenses in the amount of $ 6,800.00 as 4 authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 2412, and costs in the amount of $225.00 as authorized by 28 U.S.C. 5 || § 1920, be awarded subject to the terms of the Stipulation. Accordingly, Plaintiff's motion for 5 attorney fees (ECF No. 23) is DENIED as moot. T |) Dated: January 21, 2022 9 KENDALL J.NE Lo UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Henry v. Kijakazi Stipulation and Proposed Order E.D. Cal. 2:20-cv-02293-KJN