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

1 Jonathan O. Peña, Esq. 2 CA Bar ID No.: 278044 Peña & Bromberg, PLC 3 2440 Tulare St., Ste. 320 Fresno, CA 93721 4 Telephone: 559-439-9700 Facsimile: 559-439-9723 5 Email: info@jonathanpena.com 6 Attorney for Plaintiff, Ray Martin Heffington 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 RAY MARTIN HEFFINGTON, Case No. 1:21-cv-00031-EPG 12 Plaintiff, STIPULATION FOR THE AWARD AND 13 PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES AND v. EXPENSES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL 14 ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT; ORDER KILOLO KIJAKAZI, Acting 15 Commissioner of Social Security, (ECF No. 26) 16 Defendant. 17 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 be awarded attorney fees and expenses in the amount 21 of FIVE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS and 00/100 ($5,500.00) under the Equal Access 22 to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), and cost in the amount of zero dollars ($0.00) under 28 23 U.S.C. §1920. This amount represents compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of 24 Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). 25 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will consider the 26 matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to counsel. Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 598, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 177 L.Ed.2d 91 (2010), the ability to honor the assignment will depend on 27 whether the fees are subject to any offset allowed under the United States Department of the 1 Treasury’s Offset Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine 2 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 and costs to be made directly to Counsel, pursuant to the assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any 5 payments made shall be delivered to Plaintiff’s counsel, Jonathan O. Peña. 6 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for EAJA attorney 7 fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant under the EAJA or 8 otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any 9 and all claims that Plaintiff and/or Counsel including Counsel’s firm may have relating to EAJA 10 attorney fees in connection with this action. 11 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Counsel and/or Counsel’s firm to seek Social 12 Security Act attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause provisions of the 13 EAJA. 14 Respectfully submitted, 15 16 Dated: August 2, 2022 /s/ Jonathan O. Peña J ONATHAN O. PEÑA 17 Attorney for Plaintiff 18 19 Dated: August 2, 20222 PHILLIP A. TALBERT United States Attorney 20 PETER K. THOMPSON Acting Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX 21 Social Security Administration 22 By: _*_Andrea Banks 23 Andrea Banks Special Assistant U.S. Attorney 24 Attorneys for Defendant (*Permission to use electronic signature 25 obtained via email on August 2, 2022). 26 27 ORDER 2 Based upon the parties’ Stipulation for the Award and Payment of Equal Access to Justice Act 3 || Fees and Expenses (ECF No. 26), IT IS ORDERED that fees and expenses in the amount of FIVE 4 || THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS and 00/100 ($5,500.00) as authorized by the Equal 5 || Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), be awarded subject to the terms of the Stipulation. 6 5 IT IS SO ORDERED. 8|| Dated: _ August 3, 2022 [sf ey — 9 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -3-