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

1 PETER E. BRIXIE, Bar #124186 Attorney at Law 2 410 Twelfth Street, Suite One Sacramento, CA 95814 3 Telephone: (916) 658-1880 Fax: (916) 658-1884 E-mail: peterbrixie@gmail.com 4 Attorney for DAMIEN THOMAS 5 6 UNITED STATE DISTRICT COURT 7 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 8 DAMIEN THOMAS, Case No.: 2:21-cv-1574-CKD Plaintiff, 9 STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR 10 vs. PAYMENT OF PLAINTIFF’S ATTORNEY FEES 11 COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, Defendant 12 13 To the honorable CAROLYN K. DELANEY, it is hereby stipulated by and between the parties through their undersigned counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that DAMIEN 14 THOMAS be awarded attorney fees and expenses in the amount of $6752.00 under the Equal 15 Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). This amount represents compensation for 16 all legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action, in 17 accordance with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920; 2412(d). After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to DAMIEN THOMAS, the government 18 will consider the matter of assignment of EAJA fees to PETER BRIXIE. The retainer agreement 19 containing the assignment is attached as exhibit 1. Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 20 2529 (2010), the ability to honor the assignment will depend on whether the fees are subject to 21 any offset allowed under the United 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 22 any offset. 23 Fees shall be made payable to DAMIEN THOMAS, but if the Department of the 24 Treasury determines that DAMIEN THOMAS does not owe a federal debt, then the government 25 shall cause the payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made directly to PETER BRIXIE 1 || pursuant to the assignment executed by DAMIEN THOMAS Any payments made shall be 9 ||delivered to PETER BRIXIE 3 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of DAMIEN THOMAS vs. COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY request for EAJA attorney fees, and does not 4 constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant under the EAJA or 5 ||otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall constitute a complete release from, and bar to, 6 and all claims that DAMIEN THOMAS may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in 4 connection with this action. This award is without prejudice to the rights of PETER BRIXIE to seek Social Security 8 Act attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause provisions of the EAJA 9 Respectfully submitted, 10 Dated: August 4, 2022 By: /s/ Peter Brixie 11 PETER E. BRIXIE Attorney at Law 2 Attorney for Plaintiff 8 Dated: August 4, 2022 /s/ Ellinor Coder 14 ELLINOR CODER Special Assistant United States Attorney 15 Attorneys for Defendant 16 000 __ 7 APPROVED AND SO ORDERED. 18 Dated: August 8, 2022 fa rd Hf lez / pa 19 CAROLYN K. DELANEY UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 20 21 22 23 24 25