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

1 PHILLIP A. TALBERT United States Attorney 2 PETER K. THOMPSON Acting Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX 3 SATHYA OUM 4 Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Social Security Administration 5 160 Spear Street, Suite 800 San Francisco, CA 94105 6 Telephone: (510) 970-4846 7 Facsimile: (415) 744-0134 Email: Sathya.Oum@ssa.gov 8 9 Attorneys for Defendant 10 11 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 12 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 13 SACRAMENTO DIVISION 14 NICOLE MARIE ESTABROOK, Case No. 2:20-cv-2333-CKD 15 Plaintiff, STIPULATION FOR THE AWARD AND 16 PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES AND 17 v. EXPENSES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT; ORDER 18 KILOLO KIJAKAZI, Acting 19 Commissioner of Social Security, 20 Defendant. 21 22 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their undersigned 23 counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff be awarded attorney fees and 24 expenses in the amount of $ 11,500.00 and no costs under the Equal Access to Justice Act 25 (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). This amount represents compensation for all legal services 26 rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action, in accordance 27 with 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). 1 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will consider 2 the matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to counsel. Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 3 U.S. 586, 598, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 177 L.Ed.2d 91 (2010), the ability to honor the assignment will 4 depend on whether the fees are subject to any offset allowed under the United States 5 Department of the Treasury’s Offset Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the 6 government will determine whether they are subject to any offset. 7 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury 8 determines that Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause the 9 payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made directly to Counsel, pursuant to the 10 assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any payments made shall be delivered to Plaintiff’s 11 counsel, Jacqueline Forslund. 12 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for EAJA 13 attorney fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant under 14 the EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall constitute a complete release 15 from, and bar to, any and all claims that Plaintiff and/or Counsel including Counsel’s firm 16 may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection with this action. 17 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Counsel and/or Counsel’s firm to seek 18 Social Security Act attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause 19 provisions of the EAJA. 20 21 22 Respectfully submitted, 23 24 Dated: April 16, 2022 /s/ Jacqueline Forslund 25 J ACQUELINE FORSLUND Attorney for Plaintiff 26 (authorized by email on April 15, 2022) 27 1 Dated: April 16, 2022 PHILLIP A. TALBERT United States Attorney 2 PETER K. THOMPSOM Acting Regional Chief Counsel, Region [IX 3 Social Security Administration 4 By: Sathya Qum 5 SATHYA OUM 6 Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Attorneys for Defendant 7 8 ORDER 9 10 Based upon the parties’ Stipulation for the Award and Payment of Equal Access to 11 || Justice Act Fees and Expenses, IT IS ORDERED that fees in the amount of $11,500.00 as 12 authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 2412 be awarded subject to the terms of the Stipulation. The 13 14 pending motion for attorney’s fees (ECF No. 20) is hereby denied as moot. 15 Dated: April 18, 2022 (ard fr i Leos 16 CAROLYN K. DELANEY 7 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -3-