(SS) Parra v. Commissioner of Social Security ( 2024 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JUAN CARLOS PARRA, Case No. 1:21-cv-01798-CDB (SS) 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING STIPULATION FOR ATTORNEY’S FEES PURSUANT TO THE 13 v. EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) 14 COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, (Doc. 26) 15 Defendant. 16 17 Pending before the Court is the stipulated request of Plaintiff Juan Carlos Parra (“Plaintiff”) 18 for the award of attorney’s fees pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act (“EAJA”), 28 U.S.C. 19 § 2412(d).1 (Doc. 26). Plaintiff requests an award of attorney’s fees in the amount of $7,000 to 20 counsel for Plaintiff, Jonathan O. Pena. Id. 21 On October 31, 2023, the Court issued an order granting in part Plaintiff’s motion for 22 summary judgment and remanding this action for further proceedings under sentence four 42 23 U.S.C. § 405(g). (Doc. 24). The Court found that substantial evidence supported the 24 Administrative Law Judge’s (“ALJ”) conclusion at Step Three that Plaintiff’s multiple sclerosis 25 did not meet or medically equal the requirements of Listing 11.09A. (Doc. 24 at 11). However, 26 the Court held that the ALJ erred by not further developing the record and that the ALJ’s second 27 1 Both parties have consented to the jurisdiction of a magistrate judge for all proceedings 1 residual functional capacity determination was not supported by substantial evidence. Id. at 13. 2 That same day, judgment was entered in favor of Plaintiff against Defendant. (Doc. 25). On 3 February 1, 2024, Plaintiff filed the pending stipulated request for attorney fees. (Doc. 26). 4 Plaintiff requests an award of attorney fees as the prevailing party. Id.; see Shalala v. 5 Schaefer, 509 U.S. 292, 300-02 (1993) (concluding that a party who prevails in a sentence-four 6 remand order under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) is a prevailing party). Plaintiff’s request is timely. Van 7 v. Barnhart, 483 F.3d 600, 607 (9th Cir. 2007). 8 The EAJA provides for an award of attorney fees to private litigants who both prevail in 9 civil actions (other than tort) against the United States and timely file a petition for fees. 28 10 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(1)(A). Under the EAJA, a court shall award attorney fees to the prevailing 11 party unless it finds the government’s position was “substantially justified or that special 12 circumstances make such an award unjust.” Id. To be “substantially justified,” the government’s 13 litigation position and the underlying agency action must have a “reasonable basis both in law 14 and fact.” Pierce v. Underwood, 487 U.S. 552, 565 (1988); Ibrahim v. DHS, 912 F.3d 1147, 15 1167 (9th Cir. 2019) (en banc). A determination that an ALJ’s decision “was unsupported by 16 substantial evidence is therefore a strong indication that the ‘position of the United States’…was 17 not substantially justified.” Thangaraja v. Gonzales, 428 F.3d 870, 874 (9th Cir. 2005). Because 18 “substantial evidence” is a “deferential…standard of review” and refers to “such relevant 19 evidence as a reasonable person might accept as adequate to support a conclusion,” a finding that 20 substantial evidence is lacking usually means “the government’s underlying action was not 21 substantially justified.” Meier v. Colvin, 727 F.3d 867, 872 (9th Cir. 2013). Here, the Court 22 determined the ALJ’s decision was not supported by substantial evidence. (Doc. 24 at 12-13). 23 Moreover, the Commissioner has stipulated to Plaintiff’s request. (Doc. 26). Accordingly, 24 Plaintiff is eligible for EAJA fees. 25 Having determined that Plaintiff is eligible for EAJA fees, the Court must determine what 26 fee is reasonable. Comm'r, I.N.S. v. Jean, 496 U.S. 154, 161 (1990). Plaintiff requests an award 27 of $7,000.00. (Doc. 26 at 1). The Ninth Circuit maintains a list of the statutory maximum hourly 1 | Thangaraja v. Gonzales, 428 F.3d 870, 876-77 (9th Cir. 2005). Even assuming Plaintiff's 2 | counsel seeks the published maximum hourly rates for 2022 ($234.95),” the requested award 3 | would amount to approximately 30 hours of attorney time (not accounting for any paralegal time 4 | expended). The Court has reviewed the docket and finds this reasonable and commensurate with 5 | the number of hours an attorney reasonably would need to have spent reviewing the certified 6 | administrative record in this case (over 1,846 pages) and preparing a motion for summary 7 | judgment raising two issues for review. (Docs. 16, 21). With respect to the results obtained, 8 | Plaintiff's counsel obtained a favorable judgment remanding the case for further administrative 9 | proceedings. (Docs. 24-25). 10 EAJA fees, expenses, and costs are subject to any offsets allowed under the Treasury Offset 11 | Program (“TOP”), as discussed in Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586 (2010). If the Commissioner 12 | determines upon effectuation of this order that Plaintiff's EAJA fees are not subject to any offset 13 | allowed under the TOP, the fees shall be delivered or otherwise transmitted to Plaintiff's counsel. 14 Accordingly, it is HEREBY ORDERED: 15 1. Plaintiffs stipulated request for the award of attorney’s fees pursuant to EAJA (Doc. 26) 16 is GRANTED; and 17 2. The Commissioner is directed to pay to Plaintiff as the prevailing party attorney fees in 18 the amount of $7,000.00. Unless any offsets are applied under TOP, the government shall 19 make payment of the fees to Plaintiff's counsel Jonathan O. Pena in accordance with 20 Plaintiff's assignment of fees and subject to the terms of the stipulation. 2! IT Is SO ORDERED. 22 | } ) Bo Dated: _ February 2, 2024 23 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 24 25 26 27 ? Statutory Maximum Rates Under the Equal Access to Justice, available at 2g | https://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/attorneys/statutory-maximum-rates/ (last visited February 1, 2024).