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

1 Jonathan O. Peña, Esq. 2 CA Bar ID No.: 278044 Peña & Bromberg, PLC 3 2440 Tulare St., Ste. 320 Fresno, CA 93721 4 Telephone: 559-439-9700 Facsimile: 559-439-9723 5 Email: info@jonathanpena.com 6 Attorney for Plaintiff, Catherine Hooks 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 FRESNO DIVISION 10 CATHERINE HOOKS, Case No. 1:21-cv-01011-EPG 11 Plaintiff, STIPULATION FOR THE AWARD AND 12 PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES AND v. EXPENSES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL 13 ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT; ORDER KILOLO KIJAKAZI, Acting 14 Commissioner of Social Security, (ECF No. 25) 15 Defendant. 16 17 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their undersigned counsel, 18 subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff be awarded attorney fees and expenses in the amount 19 of EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS AND 00/100 ($8,000.00) under the Equal Access to Justice Act 20 (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), and cost in the amount of ZERO dollars ($0.00) under 28 U.S.C. §1920. 21 This amount represents compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel 22 in connection with this civil action, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). 23 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will consider the 24 matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to counsel. Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 25 598, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 177 L.Ed.2d 91 (2010), the ability to honor the assignment will depend on 26 whether the fees are subject to any offset allowed under the United States Department of the 27 Treasury’s Offset Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine 1 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury determines that 2 Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause the payment of fees, expenses 3 and costs to be made directly to Counsel, pursuant to the assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any payments made shall be delivered to Plaintiff’s counsel, Jonathan O. Peña. 4 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for EAJA attorney 5 fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant under the EAJA or 6 otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any 7 and all claims that Plaintiff and/or Counsel including Counsel’s firm may have relating to EAJA 8 attorney fees in connection with this action. 9 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Counsel and/or Counsel’s firm to seek Social 10 Security Act attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause provisions of the 11 EAJA. 12 Respectfully submitted, 13 14 Dated: September 9, 2022 /s/ Jonathan O. Peña 15 J ONATHAN O. PEÑA Attorney for Plaintiff 16 17 Dated: September 9, 2022 PHILLIP A. TALBERT United States Attorney 18 PETER K. THOMPSON Acting Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX 19 Social Security Administration 20 By: _*_Caspar I. Chan 21 Caspar I. Chan Special Assistant U.S. Attorney 22 Attorneys for Defendant (*Permission to use electronic signature 23 obtained via email on September 9, 2022). 24 25 26 27 ORDER 2 Based upon the parties’ Stipulation for the Award and Payment of Equal Access to Justice Act 3 || Fees and Expenses (ECF No. 25), IT IS ORDERED that fees and expenses in the amount of EIGHT 4 || THOUSAND DOLLARS AND 00/100 ($8,000.00) as authorized by the Equal Access to Justice Act 5 || C(EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), be awarded subject to the terms of the Stipulation. 6 IT IS SO ORDERED. 8|| Dated: _ September 12, 2022 [sf ey — 9 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -3-