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

1 || HARVEY P. SACKETT (72488) 2 AND ASSOCIATES 3 A PROFESSIONAL LAW CORP. 4 548 Market Street, Suite 38822 San Francisco, California 94104-5401 5 Telephone: (408) 295-7755 Facsimile: (408) 295-7444 6 Attorney for Plaintiff 7 IV /as 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 No. 2:19-cv-0994-DB 11 || JOHN A. MARTIN, 0. 2rtrev 12 STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR Plaintiff, ) THE AWARD AND PAYMENT OF 13 ) | ATTORNEY FEES PURSUANT TO 14 V. ) THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ) ACT, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) 15 ANDREW SAUL, ) Commissioner of Social Security, ) 16 ) Defendant. 17 ) jg jj——__ 19 On October 22, 2020 this Court issued an order reversing the final decision of the 29 || Defendant, Andrew Saul, the Commissioner of Social Security (Commissioner), with a remand 21 || for a rehearing, 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) (sentence four); judgment was entered. 2 In the interest of administrative and judicial economy, the parties have agreed to stipulate 23 || that an award of FIVE THOUSAND ($5,000.00) in attorney fees under the Equal Access to 94 || Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), is reasonable. This award is without prejudice to 25 || Plaintiff’s right to seek attorney’s fees under section 206(b) of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 26 || § 406(b), subject to the offset provisions of the EAJA. However, this award shall constitute a 27 28 STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR THE AWARD AND PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) 2 Further, such award shall not be used as precedent in any future cases, nor be construed as a 3 concession by the Commissioner that the original administrative decision denying benefits to 4 Plaintiff was not substantially justified. 5 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the Government will consider 6 the matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to Harvey P. Sackett (“Counsel”). Pursuant to 7 Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586 (2010), the ability to honor an assignment will depend on whether 8 the fees are subject to any offset allowed under the United States Department of the Treasury’s 9 Offset Program. After the order for EAJA is entered, the Government will determine whether 10 they are subject to offset. Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of 11 Treasury determines Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the Government shall cause the 12 payment of fees, expenses, and costs to be made payable directly to Counsel, pursuant to the 13 assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any payments made shall be delivered and made payable to 14 Counsel. 15 Accordingly, Defendant agrees to pay Plaintiff $5,000.00 in attorney’s fees. 16 All parties whose signature lines appear in this document have consented to its filing. 17 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Sackett and Associates and/or Harvey P. Sackett 18 to seek Social Security Act attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause 19 provisions of the EAJA. 20 21 Dated: December 22, 2020 SACKETT AND ASSOCIATES 22 /s/ HARVEY P. SACKETT 23 HARVEY P. SACKETT Attorney for Plaintiff 24 JOHN A. MARTIN 25 Dated: December 22, 2020 ASIM H. MODI 26 United States Attorney 27 28 2 2 ASIM H. MODI Special Assistant United States Attorney 3 Attorneys for Defendant [*as authorized by e-mail on 12/22/20] 4 5 6 7 ORDER 8 Pursuant to the parties’ stipulation, IT IS SO ORDERED. 9 DATED: January 4, 2021 /s/ DEBORAH BARNES UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 3