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

1 PHILLIP A. TALBERT Acting United States Attorney 2 MATHEW W. PILE, WSBA No. 32245 Associate General Counsel 3 Office of Program Litigation, Office 7 4 Social Security Administration MARCELO ILLARMO (MABN 670079) 5 Special Assistant United States Attorney 6 160 Spear Street, Suite 800 San Francisco, California 94105 7 Telephone: (510) 970-4822 8 E-Mail: Marcelo.Illarmo@ssa.gov 9 Attorneys for Defendant 10 Meghan O. Lambert, Esq. 11 Osterhout Berger Disability Law, LLC 521 Cedar Way, Suite 200 12 Oakmont, PA 15139 13 Phone: 412-794-8003 Meghan@mydisabilityattorney.com 14 CA Bar ID: 258040 15 Attorney for Plaintiff 16 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 17 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 18 KIMBERLY ANN MCCOMBS, Case No. 2:22-cv-00001-DMC 19 20 Plaintiff, STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR THE AWARD OF ATTORNEY FEES UNDER 21 v. THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT 22 (EAJA) KILOLO KIJAKAZI, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) 23 Acting Commissioner of Social 24 Security, 25 Defendant. 26 TO THE HONORABLE DENNIS M. COTA, MAGISTRATE JUDGE OF THE 27 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT: 1 The Parties through their undersigned counsel, subject to the Court’s approval, 2 stipulate that Plaintiff be awarded attorney fees in the amount of SEVEN THOUSAND 3 DOLLARS and 00/100 ($7,000.00) under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 4 U.S.C. § 2412(d) and costs in the amount of FOUR HUNDRED AND TWO 5 DOLLARS ($402.00), to be paid separately from the Judgment Fund. This amount 6 represents compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel 7 in connection with this civil action, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). 8 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will 9 consider the matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to counsel. Pursuant to 10 Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 598, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 177 L.Ed.2d 91 (2010), the ability 11 to honor the assignment will depend on whether the fees are subject to any offset 12 allowed under the United States Department of the Treasury’s Offset Program. After 13 the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine whether they are 14 subject to any offset. 15 16 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury 17 determines that Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause 18 the payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made directly to counsel, pursuant to the 19 assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any payments made shall be delivered to Plaintiff’s 20 counsel, Meghan O. Lambert. 21 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for 22 EAJA fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant 23 under the EAJA. Payment of SEVEN THOUSAND DOLLARS and 00/100 ($7,000.00) 24 in EAJA attorney fees and FOUR HUNDRED AND TWO DOLLARS ($402.00) in 25 costs to be paid separately from the Judgment Fund. These payments shall constitute a 26 complete release from, and bar to, any and all claims that Plaintiff and Plaintiff’s 27 1 || attorney, Meghan O. Lambert, may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection 2 || with this action. 3 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Plaintiff's attorney to seek Social 4 Security Act attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause 5 provisions of the EAJA. 6 Respectfully submitted, 7 g Dated: November 2, 2022 /s/ Meghan O. Lambert MEGHAN O. LAMBERT 9 Attorney for Plaintiff 10 11 Dated: November 2, 2022 PHILLIP A. TALBERT Acting United States Attorney 12 13 MATHEW W. PILE, WSBA No. 32245 Associate General Counsel 14 Office of Program Litigation, Office 7 15 Social Security Administration 16 By: /s/ Marcelo Illarmo* 17 MARCELO ILLARMO Special Assistant United States Attorney 18 Attorneys for Defendant 19 (*Permission to use electronic signature 50 obtained via email on November 1, 2022). 21 23 || Dated: November 3, 2022 SS GC 24 DENNIS M. COTA 25 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 26 27 28 -3-