(SS)Velasquez v. Commissioner of Social Security ( 2023 )

PHILLIP A. TALBERT 1 United States Attorney 2 MATHEW W. PILE Associate General Counsel 3 Office of Program Litigation, Office 7, ANGELA THORNTON-MILLARD, IA 17922 4 Special Assistant United States Attorney 5 Office of Program Litigation, Office 7 Office of the General Counsel 6 Social Security Administration 6401 Security Boulevard 7 Baltimore, MD 21235 8 Telephone: (816) 936-5079 angela.thornton-millard@ssa.gov 9 10 Attorneys for Defendant 11 12 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 13 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 14 FRESNO DIVISION 15 16 KATHRINE VELASQUEZ, ) CIVIL NO. 1:23-cv-00367-SKO ) 17 Plaintiff, ) STIPULATION FOR THE AWARD AND v. ) PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES AND 18 ) EXPENSES PURSUANT TO THE MARTIN O’MALLEY,1 ) EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 29 19 Commissioner of Social Security, ) U.S.C. § 2412(d); ORDER RE: 20 Defendant. ) ) S MT OIP TU IOL NA T FI OO RN A A TN TD O D RE NN EY YI ’N S G F EES AS ) 21 ) MOOT 22 (Docs. 23 & 27) 23 24 25 26 1 Martin O’Malley became the Commissioner of Social Security on December 20, 2023. Pursuant 27 to Rule 25(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Martin O’Malley should be substituted for Kilolo Kijakazi as the defendant in this suit. No further action need be taken to continue this suit 28 by reason of the last sentence of section 205(g) of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their undersigned 1 2 counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff be awarded attorney fees and 3 expenses in the amount of $9,700.00 (NINE THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED dollars) under 4 the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). This amount represents 5 compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection with 6 this civil action, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). 7 8 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will consider 9 the matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to counsel, if any. Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 10 560 U.S. 586, 598 (2010), the ability to honor any assignment will depend on whether the fees 11 are subject to any offset allowed under the United States Department of the Treasury’s Offset 12 13 Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine whether they 14 are subject to any offset. 15 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury determines 16 that Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause the payment of fees 17 and expenses to be made directly to counsel, pursuant to the assignment executed by Plaintiff. 18 19 Any payments made shall be delivered to counsel. 20 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for EAJA 21 attorney fees and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant under the 22 EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall constitute a complete release from, and 23 bar to, any and all claims that Plaintiff and/or counsel including counsel’s firm may have relating 24 25 to EAJA attorney fees or costs in connection with this action. 26 27 28 This award is without prejudice to the rights of counsel and/or counsel’s firm to seek 1 2 Social Security Act attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause 3 provisions of the EAJA. 4 5 Dated: December 22, 2023 PENA & BROMBERG, PLC 6 /s/ Jonathan Pena* JONATHAN PENA 7 Attorney for Plaintiff 8 *Authorized via e-mail on December 22, 2023 9 PHILLIP A. TALBERT United States Attorney 10 MATHEW W. PILE 11 Associate General Counsel Social Security Administration 12 By: /s/ Angela Thornton-Millard 13 ANGELA THORNTON-MILLARD 14 Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Attorneys for Defendant 15 ORDER 16 17 Based upon the parties’ Stipulation for the Award and Payment of Equal Access to 18 Justice Act Fees, Costs, and Expenses (Doc. 27), IT IS ORDERED that fees and expenses in the 19 amount of $9,700 as authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 2412 be awarded subject to the terms of the 20 Stipulation. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff’s motion for attorney’s fees (Doc. 23) is 21 22 DENIED as MOOT. 23 24 IT IS SO ORDERED. 25 Dated: December 26, 2023 /s/ Sheila K. Oberto . 26 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 27 28