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

1 Jared Walker (SB#269029) P.O. Box 1777 2 Orangevale, CA 95662 T: (916) 476-5044 3 F: (916) 476-5064 jared@jwalker.law 4 5 Attorney for Plaintiff, JUAN GUZMAN 6 7 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 JUAN GUZMAN, Case No.: 2:22-cv-00799-CKD 10 Plaintiff, STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR THE 11 v. AWARD OF ATTORNEY FEES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE 12 KILOLO KIJAKAZI, ACT, 28 U.S.C. § 2412 Acting Commissioner of the Social Security 13 Administration, 14 Defendant. 15 16 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their undersigned 17 counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff be awarded attorney fees, expenses, and 18 costs in the above-entitled action in the amount of $8,000.00 under the Equal Access to Justice Act 19 (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). This amount represents compensation for all legal services and 20 expenses incurred on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action. 21 Upon the Court’s issuance of an order granting EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will 22 determine the issue of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to Plaintiff’s attorney. Pursuant to Astrue 23 v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 597-598 (2010), the ability to honor the assignment will depend on if the 24 fees are subject to any offset allowed under the United States Department of the Treasury’s Offset 25 Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine whether they are 26 subject to any offset. 27 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury determines 28 that Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government will cause the payment of fees to be 1 made directly to Plaintiff’s attorney, LAW OFFICE OF JARED T. WALKER, P.C., pursuant to the 2 assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any payments made to Plaintiff will be delivered to JARED T. 3 WALKER. 4 This stipulation constitutes a settlement of Plaintiff’s request for EAJA attorney fees and 5 does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of defendant under the EAJA or otherwise. 6 Payment of the agreed amount will constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any and all claims 7 that Plaintiff and/or Plaintiff’s attorney, including LAW OFFICE OF JARED T. WALKER, P.C., 8 may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection with this action. 9 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Plaintiff’s counsel to seek Social Security 10 attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause provisions of the EAJA. 11 Dated: October 9, 2023 Respectfully submitted, 12 /s/ Jared Walker JARED T. WALKER, 13 Attorney for Plaintiff 14 SO STIPULATED: 15 PHILLIP A. TALBERT United States Attorney 16 17 18 By: /s/ *Caspar Chan CASPAR CHAN 19 (*authorized by e-mail on 10/10/2023) Special Assistant United States Attorney 20 Attorneys for Defendant 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 ORDER 2 Based upon the parties’ Stipulation for Award of Attorney Fees pursuant to the Equal Access 3 || to Justice Act (EAJA), 4 IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiff is awarded $8,000.00 in fees and expenses under 28 U.S.C. § 5 || 2412(d), inclusive of all amounts claimed, subject to and in accordance with the terms of the parties’ 6 || foregoing Stipulation. 7 || Dated: October 11, 2023 ( aie } Kt | Ld a a 8 CAROLYN K.DELANEY 9 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 10 1] 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28