Guzman v. Berryhill ( 2020 )

1 || HARVEY P. SACKETT (72488) 2 AND ASSOCIATES 3 A PROFESSIONAL LAW CORP. 4 1055 Lincoln Avenue San Jose, California 95125-6011 5 Telephone: (408) 295-7755 Facsimile: (408) 295-7444 6 Attorney for Plaintiff 7 IV /as 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 |) RUBEN C. GUZMAN, ) Case No.: 5:18-cv-06694-SVK 12 ) Plaintiff, ) STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED} 13 ORDER FOR THE AWARD AND V. ) PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES ) PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL 15 || ANDREW SAUL, ) ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 28 Commissioner of Social Security, U.S.C. § 2412(d) 16 Defendant. 17 ) 1g OS 19 On November 26, 2019 this Court issued an order reversing the final decision of the 20 ||Defendant, Andrew Saul, the Commissioner of Social Security (Commissioner), with a remand 321 a rehearing, 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) (sentence four); judgment was entered. 22 In the interest of administrative and judicial economy, the parties have agreed to 23 ||stipulate that an award of FOUR THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED EIGHTY-FOUR AND 24 || TWENTY ($4,584.20) in attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 25 ||U.S.C. § 2412(d), is reasonable. This award is without prejudice to Plaintiff's right to seek 26 ||attorney’s fees under section 206(b) of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to 27 28 STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER FOR THE AWARD AND PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) 2 from and bar to any claims Plaintiff may have relating to EAJA fees and costs. Further, such 3 award shall not be used as precedent in any future cases, nor be construed as a concession by 4 the Commissioner that the original administrative decision denying benefits to Plaintiff was not 5 substantially justified. 6 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the Government will 7 consider the matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to Harvey P. Sackett (“Counsel”). 8 Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586 (2010), the ability to honor an assignment will 9 depend on whether the fees are subject to any offset allowed under the United States 10 Department of the Treasury’s Offset Program. After the order for EAJA is entered, the 11 Government will determine whether they are subject to offset. Fees shall be made payable to 12 Plaintiff, but if the Department of Treasury determines Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, 13 then the Government shall cause the payment of fees, expenses, and costs to be made payable 14 directly to Counsel, pursuant to the assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any payments made 15 shall be delivered and made payable to Counsel. 16 Accordingly, Defendant agrees to pay Plaintiff $4,584.20 in attorney’s fees. 17 All parties whose signature lines appear in this document have consented to its filing. 18 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Sackett and Associates and/or Harvey P. 19 Sackett to seek Social Security Act attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the 20 savings clause provisions of the EAJA. 21 22 Dated: February 24, 2020 SACKETT AND ASSOCIATES 23 By: /s/ HARVEY P. SACKETT 24 HARVEY P. SACKETT Attorney for Plaintiff 25 RUBEN C. GUZMAN 26 27 28 2 1 Dated: February 25, 2020 DAVID L. ANDERSON 2 United States Attorney 3 By: /s/BEN PORTER BEN PORTER 4 Special Assistant United States Attorney 5 Attorneys for Defendant [*As authorized by email on 2/24/20] 6 7 ORDER 8 || Pursuant to the stipulation, IT Is SO ORDERED. 9 10 11. || Dated: February 26, 2020 S usen Ya Kul HON. SUSAN VAN KUELEN 12 United States Magistrate Judge 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER FOR THE AWARD AND PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)