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

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 VERONICA GONZALEZ, Case No. 1:24-cv-00135-HBK1 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING AWARD AND PAYMENT OF ATTORNEYS FEES UNDER 13 v. THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT 14 MARTIN O’MALLEY, (Doc. No. 21) COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL 15 SECURITY, 16 Defendant. 17 18 Pending before the Court is the parties’ stipulated motion for award of attorney’s fees 19 filed on September 27, 2024. (Doc. No. 21). The parties agree to an award of attorney’s fees and 20 expenses to Plaintiff’s attorney, Denise Bourgeois Haley of the Law Offices of Lawrence D. 21 Rohlfing, Inc., CPC, in the amount of $8,000.00 in attorney fees and expenses, pursuant to the 22 Equal Access to Justice Act (“EAJA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2412. (Id.). 23 On August 16, 2024, this Court granted the parties’ stipulated motion for a remand and 24 remanded the case pursuant to sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) to the Commissioner for 25 further administrative proceedings. (Doc. No. 19). Judgment was entered the same day. (Doc. 26 1 Both parties have consented to the jurisdiction of a magistrate judge in accordance with 28 U.S.C. 27 §636(c)(1). (Doc. No. 6). 28 1 | No. 20). Plaintiff now requests an award of fees as the prevailing party. See 28 U.S.C. § 2412(a) 2 | & (d)(1)(A); Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(d)(1); see 28 U.S.C. § 1920; cf. Shalala v. Schaefer, 509 U.S. 3 | 292, 300-02 (1993) (concluding that a party who wins a sentence-four remand order under 42 4 | U.S.C. § 405(g) is a prevailing party). The Commissioner does not oppose the requested relief. 5 The EAJA provides for an award of attorney fees to private litigants who both prevail in 6 | civil actions (other than tort) against the United States and timely file a petition for fees. 28 7 | U.S.C. § 2412(d)C1)(A). Under the Act, a court shall award attorney fees to the prevailing party 8 | unless it finds the government’s position was “substantially justified or that special circumstances 9 | make such an award unjust.” Jd. Here, the government did not show its position was 10 | substantially justified and the Court finds there are not special circumstances that would make an 11 | award unjust. Based on the stipulation, the Court finds an award of $8,000.00 in attorney fees 12 | and expenses is appropriate. EAJA fees, expenses, and costs are subject to any offsets allowed 13 | under the Treasury Offset Program (“TOP”), as discussed in Astrue v. Ratliff, 532 U.S. 1192 14 | (2010). Ifthe Commissioner determines upon effectuation of this Order that Plaintiff's EAJA 15 | fees are not subject to any offset allowed under the TOP, the fees shall be delivered or otherwise 16 || transmitted to Plaintiff's counsel. 17 Accordingly, it is ORDERED: 18 1. The stipulated motion for attorney fees and expenses (Doc. No. 21) is GRANTED. 19 2. The Commissioner is directed to pay to Plaintiff as the prevailing party EAJA fees in 20 | the amount of $8,000.00 in attorney fees and expenses. Unless the Department of Treasury 21 | determines that Plaintiff owes a federal debt, the government shall make payment of the EAJA 22 | fees to Plaintiff's counsel, Denise Bourgeois Haley of the Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, 23 || Inc., CPC, in accordance with Plaintiff's assignment of fees and subject to the terms of the 24 | stipulated motion. 2 Dated: _ September 30, 2024 oe Zh. Sareh Back 26 HELENA M. BARCH-KUCHTA 4 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 28