(SS) Hall 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 SHELLY LEANN HALL, Case No. 2:20-cv-2036-EFB 15 Plaintiff, STIPULATION FOR THE AWARD AND 16 PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES AND 17 v. EXPENSES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT; 18 KILOLO KIJAKAZI1, Acting [PROPOSED] ORDER 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 25 26 1 Kilolo Kijakazi became the Acting Commissioner of Social Security on July 9, 2021. Pursuant to Rule 25(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Kilolo Kijakazi should be 27 substituted, therefore, for Andrew Saul as the defendant in this suit. No further action need be taken to continue this suit by reason of the last sentence of section 205(g) of the Social 1 expenses in the amount of $ 10,000.00 (TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS) under the Equal 2 Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). This amount represents compensation for 3 all legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action, 4 in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). 5 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will consider 6 the matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to counsel. Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 7 U.S. 586, 598, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 177 L.Ed.2d 91 (2010), the ability to honor the assignment will 8 depend on whether the fees are subject to any offset allowed under the United States 9 Department of the Treasury’s Offset Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the 10 government will determine whether they are subject to any offset. 11 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury 12 determines that Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause the 13 payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made directly to Counsel, pursuant to the 14 assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any payments made shall be delivered to Plaintiff’s 15 counsel. 16 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for EAJA 17 attorney fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant under 18 the EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall constitute a complete release 19 from, and bar to, any and all claims that Plaintiff and/or Counsel including Counsel’s firm 20 may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection with this action. 21 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Counsel and/or Counsel’s firm to seek 22 Social Security Act attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause 23 provisions of the EAJA. 24 25 26 27 1 2 Respectfully submitted, 3 4 Dated: August 4, 2022 /s/ Robert Weems R OBERT WEEMS 5 Attorney for Plaintiff 6 (authorized by email on 8/4/22) 7 Dated: August 4, 2022 PHILLIP A. TALBERT 8 United States Attorney 9 PETER K. THOMPSON Acting Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX 10 Social Security Administration 11 By: Sathya Oum 12 SATHYA OUM Special Assistant U.S. Attorney 13 Attorneys for Defendant 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 [PROPOSED| ORDER 2 Based upon the parties’ Stipulation for the Award and Payment of Equal Access to 3 Justice Act Fees and Expenses, IT IS ORDERED that fees in the amount of $10,000.00 as authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 2412 be awarded subject to the terms of the Stipulation. 6 7 , | DATE: August 4, 2022. tid EDMUND F. BRENNAN 9 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 4.