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

PHILLIP A. TALBERT 1 United States Attorney 2 PETER K. THOMPSON, HIBN 5890 Acting Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX 3 Social Security Administration MARGARET BRANICK-ABILLA 4 Special Assistant United States Attorney 5 160 Spear Street, Suite 800 San Francisco, CA 94105-1545 6 Telephone: (510) 970-4809 Facsimile: (415) 744-0134 7 E-mail: Margaret.Branick-Abilla@ssa.gov 8 Attorneys for Defendant 9 10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 SACRAMENTO DIVISION 12 ROSEZETTA VIVIAN HUDSON, ) Case No. 2:19-cv-02390-JAM-JDP 13 ) Plaintiff, ) STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] 14 ) ORDER FOR THE AWARD AND 15 vs. ) PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES ) PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS 16 KILOLO KIJAKAZI, Acting ) TO JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) Commissioner of Social Security, ) 17 ) 18 Defendant. ) ) 19 ) 20 21 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties, through their undersigned 22 counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff be awarded attorney fees in the amount 23 of SEVEN THOUSAND, SIX HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIVE DOLLARS AND ZERO 24 CENTS ($7,635.00) under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). This 25 amount represents compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in 26 connection with this civil action, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920, 2412(d). 27 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will consider the 28 matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to counsel Eddy Pierre Pierre (Counsel). Pursuant 1 to Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 598 (2010), the ability to honor the assignment will depend on 2 whether the fees are subject to any offset allowed under the United States Department of the 3 Treasury’s Offset Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will 4 determine whether they are subject to any offset. 5 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury determines 6 that Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause the payment of fees to 7 be made directly to Counsel, pursuant to the assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any payments 8 made shall be delivered to Counsel. 9 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for EAJA 10 attorney fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant under the 11 EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall constitute a complete release from, and 12 bar to, any and all claims that Plaintiff and/or Counsel, including Omar Ortega and Pierre Pierre 13 Law, P.C., may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection with this action. 14 This award is without prejudice to the rights of counsel to seek Social Security Act 15 attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause provisions of the EAJA. 16 Respectfully submitted, 17 Dated: June 8, 2022 PIERRE PIERRE LAW, P.C. 18 By: /s/ Omar Ortega * 19 OMAR ORTEGA Attorneys for Plaintiff 20 [*As authorized by e-mail on Jun. 8, 2022] 21 22 Dated: June 11, 2022 PHILLIP A. TALBERT 23 United States Attorney PETER K. THOMPSON 24 Acting Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX Social Security Administration 25 26 By: /s/ Margaret Branick-Abilla ___ MARGARET BRANICK-ABILLA 27 Special Assistant United States Attorney Attorneys for Defendant 28 ee EI NEE III NN IIE IIE IGE OE IED IEE EE PROPOSED} ORDER 2 IT IS SO ORDERED. 3 Dated: _ June 11, 2022 5 awe D. PE ERSON UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE ; 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Stinnlation: PPrepeced! Order