(SS) Stafford-Watkins 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 ANDREA BANKS Special Assistant United States Attorney 5 160 Spear Street, Suite 800 6 San Francisco, CA 94105 Telephone: (510) 970-4803 7 Facsimile: (415) 744-0134 8 Email: andrea.banks@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 19 JESSICA STAFFORD-WATKINS, No. 2:21-cv-0840 DB 20 Plaintiff, STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR THE 21 AWARD OF ATTORNEY FEES UNDER 22 v. THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT (EAJA) 23 KILOLO KIJAKAZI, Acting 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) 24 Commissioner of Social Security, 25 Defendant. 26 TO THE HONORABLE DEBORAH BARNES, MAGISTRATE JUDGE OF 27 THE 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 FIVE THOUSAND, 3 TWO HUNDRED SIXTY-NINE DOLLARS and 04/100 ($5,269.04) under the Equal 4 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 6 connection with this civil action, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). 7 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will 8 consider the matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to counsel. Pursuant to 9 Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 598, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 177 L.Ed.2d 91 (2010), the ability 10 to honor the assignment will depend on whether the fees are subject to any offset 11 allowed under the United States Department of the Treasury’s Offset Program. After 12 the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine whether they are 13 subject to any offset. 14 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury 15 16 determines that Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause 17 the payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made directly to counsel, pursuant to the 18 assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any payments made shall be delivered to Plaintiff’s 19 counsel, Meghan O. Lambert at 521 Cedar Way, Suite 200, Oakmont, Pennsylvania 20 15139. 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 FIVE THOUSAND, TWO HUNDRED SIXTY-NINE 24 DOLLARS and 04/100 ($5,269.04) in EAJA attorney fees. These payments shall 25 constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any and all claims that Plaintiff and 26 Plaintiff’s attorney, Meghan O. Lambert, may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in 27 connection with this action. 1 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Plaintiff’s attorney to seek Social 2 Security Act attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause 3 provisions of the EAJA. 4 Respectfully submitted, 5 6 Dated: November 14, 2022 /s/ Meghan O. Lambert 7 M EGHAN O. LAMBERT Attorney for Plaintiff 8 9 Dated: November 14, 2022 PHILLIP A. TALBERT 10 Acting United States Attorney MATHEW W. PILE, WSBA No. 32245 11 Associate General Counsel 12 Office of Program Litigation, Office 7 13 By: /s/ Andrea Banks* 14 ANDREA BANKS Special Assistant United States Attorney 15 Attorneys for Defendant 16 (*Permission to use electronic signature obtained via email on November 14, 2022). 17 18 19 ORDER 20 Pursuant to the parties’ stipulation, IT IS SO ORDERED. 21 22 DATE: November 15, 2022 /s/ DEBORAH BARNES UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 23 24 25 26 27