(SS) Hogan v. Commissioner of Social Security ( 2023 )

PHILLIP A. TALBERT 1 United States Attorney 2 MATHEW W. PILE, WSBA 32245 Associate General Counsel 3 Office of Program Litigation, Office 7 Social Security Administration 4 ELLINOR R. CODER, CA 258258 5 Special Assistant United States Attorney 160 Spear Street, Suite 800 6 San Francisco, California 94105 Telephone: (510) 970-4814 7 Facsimile: (415) 744-0134 8 E-Mail: Ellinor.Coder@ssa.gov Attorneys for Defendant 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 ) Case No.: 1:21-cv-01421-SKO DANIEL RICHARD HOGAN, ) 13 ) STIPULATION FOR THE AWARD AND Plaintiff, ) PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES AND 14 ) EXPENSES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL vs. ) ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. 15 KILOLO KIJAKAZI, ) § 2412(d), AND COSTS PURSUANT TO 28 Acting Commissioner of Social Security, ) U.S.C. § 1920; ORDER RE: STIPULATION 16 ) AND DENYING MOTION FOR ) ATTORNEY’S FEES AS MOOT 17 Defendant. ) ) (Docs. 19 & 21) 18 19 20 WHEREAS Plaintiff filed a Motion for Attorney’s Fees Pursuant to the Equal Access to 21 Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412 (Motion) seeking $6,866.62 in attorney fees (Doc. 19 at 4), 22 WHEREAS the parties’ agree to resolve Plaintiff’s Motion without contested briefing, 23 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their undersigned 24 counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff be awarded attorney fees and 25 expenses in the amount $6,866.62 (SIX THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED SIXTY-SIX 26 DOLLARS and SIXTY-TWO cents) under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. 27 § 2412(d), and no costs under 28 U.S.C. § 1920. This amount represents compensation for all 28 1 legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action, in 2 accordance with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920; 2412(d). 3 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will consider 4 the matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to counsel, if any. Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 5 560 U.S. 586, 598, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 177 L.Ed.2d 91 (2010), the ability to honor any assignment 6 will depend on whether the fees are subject to any offset allowed under the United States 7 Department of the Treasury’s Offset Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the 8 government will determine whether they are subject to any offset. 9 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury determines 10 that Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause the payment of fees, 11 expenses and costs to be made directly to counsel, pursuant to the assignment executed by 12 Plaintiff (Doc. 19-2 at 1). Any payments made shall be delivered to counsel. 13 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for EAJA 14 attorney fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant under the 15 EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall constitute a complete release from, and 16 bar to, any and all claims that Plaintiff and/or counsel including counsel’s firm may have relating 17 to EAJA attorney fees or costs in connection with this action. 18 This award is without prejudice to the rights of counsel and/or counsel’s firm to seek 19 Social Security Act attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause 20 provisions of the EAJA. 21 Respectfully submitted, 22 23 Dated: January 24, 2023 /s/ Jonathan Omar Peña* JONATHAN OMAR PEÑA 24 Attorney for Plaintiff *Authorized via e-mail on Jan. 24, 2023 25 26 Dated: January 24, 2023 PHILLIP A. TALBERT United States Attorney 27 MATHEW W. PILE Associate General Counsel 28 Social Security Administration 1 By: /s/ Ellinor R. Coder 2 ELLINOR R. CODER Special Assistant United States Attorney 3 Attorneys for Defendant 4 5 ORDER 6 7 Based upon the parties’ foregoing Stipulation for the Award and Payment of Equal Access 8 to Justice Act Fees, Costs, and Expenses (Doc. 21), IT IS ORDERED that fees and expenses in 9 the amount of $6,866.62 as authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 2412, and no costs authorized by 28 U.S.C. 10 § 1920, be awarded subject to the terms of the Stipulation. 11 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff’s motion for attorney’s fees (Doc. 19) is 12 DENIED as MOOT. 13 IT IS SO ORDERED. 14 15 Dated: January 25, 2023 /s/ Sheila K. Oberto . UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28