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

1 PHILLIP A. TALBERT United States Attorney 2 PETER K. THOMPSON (HI 5890) Acting Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX 3 Social Security Administration 4 MARCELO ILLARMO (MABN 670079) Special Assistant United States Attorney 5 160 Spear Street, Suite 800 San Francisco, California 94105 6 Telephone: (415) 977-8944 7 Facsimile: (415) 744-0134 Email: Marcelo.Illarmo@ssa.gov 8 Attorneys for Defendant 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 ESTEBAN LOPEZ, ) Case No. 2:20-cv-00360-AC 12 ) Plaintiff ) STIPULATION AND PROPOSED 13 ) ORDER FOR AWARD OF ATTORNEY’S 14 v. ) FEES UNDER THE EQUAL ACCESS TO ) JUSTICE ACT (EAJA) 15 KILOLO KIJAKAZI, ) Acting Commissioner of Social Security, ) 16 ) 17 Defendant ) ) 18 ____________________________________) 19 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their undersigned counsel, 20 subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff shall be awarded attorney’s fees and expenses 21 under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. sec. 2412(d), in the amount of five 22 thousand dollars ($5,000.00), and no costs under 28 U.S.C. § 1920. This amount represents 23 compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920; 2412(d). Accordingly, should this Court award 24 fees and expenses under EAJA pursuant to this stipulation, Plaintiff’s motion for attorney fees (ECF 25 28) would be moot. 26 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will consider the 27 matter of any assignment of EAJA fees by Plaintiff to her counsel Kelsey Brown (Counsel). Pursuant 28 to Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 598, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 177 L.Ed.2d 91 (2010), the ability to honor 1 the assignment will depend on whether the fees are subject to any offset allowed under the United 2 States Department of the Treasury’s Offset Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine whether they are subject to any offset. 3 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury determines that 4 Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause the payment of fees, expenses 5 and costs to be made directly to Counsel pursuant to an assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any 6 payments made shall be delivered to Counsel. 7 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for EAJA attorney 8 fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant under the EAJA or 9 otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any 10 and all claims that Plaintiff and/or Counsel, including his firm, may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection with this action. 11 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Kelsey Brown to seek Social Security Act 12 attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause provisions of the EAJA . 13 14 15 Respectfully submitted, 16 Dated: April 21, 2022 17 By: /s/ Kelsey Brown* 18 KELSEY BROWN By email authorization on 4/21/22 19 Attorney for Plaintiff 20 21 Dated: April _21, 2022 PHILLIP A. TALBERT United States Attorney 22 By: /s/ Marcelo Illarmo 23 MARCELO ILLARMO 24 Special Assistant United States Attorney 25 26 27 28 Based upon the parties’ Stipulation for the Award and Payment of Equal Access to Justice Ac 2 Fees, Costs, and Expenses, IT IS ORDERED that fees and expenses in the amount of $5,000.00 as ° authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 2412, and no costs as authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 1920, be awarded subject to the terms of the Stipulation. Furthermore, Plaintiff's motion for attorney fees (ECF 28) is denied ° as moot. 6 . ~ , ||DATED: April 21, 2022 Lhttwdrr— Chane ALLISON CLAIRE 8 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Lopez v. Kijakazi Stipulation and Proposed Order E.D. Cal. 2:20-cv-00360-AC