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

1 PETER E. BRIXIE, Bar #124186 Attorney at Law 2 410 Twelfth Street, Suite One Sacramento, CA 95814 3 Telephone: (916) 658-1880 Fax: (916) 658-1884 E-mail: peterbrixie@gmail.com 4 Attorney for CHRISTINE BRECKENRIDGE 5 UNITED STATE DISTRICT COURT 6 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 7 CHRISTINE BRECKENRIDGE, No. 2:20-cv-1915 DB 8 Plaintiff, STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR PAYMENT OF PLAINTIFF’S ATTORNEY 9 vs. FEES 10 COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, 11 Defendant 12 To the honorable DEBORAH BARNES, it is hereby stipulated by and between the 13 parties through their undersigned counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that CHRISTINE BRECKENRIDGE be awarded attorney fees and expenses in the amount of $7400.00 under the 14 Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). This amount represents compensation 15 for all legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil 16 action, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920; 2412(d). 17 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to CHRISTINE BRECKENRIDGE, the government will consider the matter of assignment of EAJA fees to PETER BRIXIE. The 18 retainer agreement containing the assignment is attached as exhibit 1. Pursuant to Astrue v. 19 Ratliff, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 2529 (2010), the ability to honor the assignment will depend on whether 20 the fees are subject to any offset allowed under the United States Department of the Treasury's 21 Offset Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine 22 whether they are subject to any offset. Fees shall be made payable to CHRISTINE BRECKENRIDGE, but if the Department of 23 the Treasury determines that CHRISTINE BRECKENRIDGE does not owe a federal debt, then 24 the government shall cause the payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made directly to 25 1 PETER BRIXIE pursuant to the assignment executed by CHRISTINE BRECKENRIDGE Any 2 payments made shall be delivered to PETER BRIXIE This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of CHRISTINE BRECKENRIDGE 3 vs. COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY request for EAJA attorney fees, and does not 4 constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant under the EAJA or 5 otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall constitute a complete release from, and bar to, 6 any and all claims that CHRISTINE BRECKENRIDGE may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection with this action. This award is without prejudice to the rights of PETER BRIXIE 7 to seek Social Security Act attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause 8 provisions of the EAJA. 9 Respectfully submitted, 10 Dated: March 30, 2022 By: /s/ Peter Brixie 11 PETER E. BRIXIE Attorney at Law Attorney for Plaintiff 12 13 Dated: March 30, 2022 /s/Marcelo Illarmo MARCELO ILLARMO 14 Special Assistant United States Attorney Attorneys for Defendant 15 __ooo__ 16 17 ORDER 18 Pursuant to the parties’ stipulation, IT IS SO ORDERED. 19 DATED: April 1, 2022 /s/ DEBORAH BARNES UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 20 21 22 23 24 25