Tofiq v. Commissioner of Social Security ( 2021 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT TACOMA 9 10 NAMAT TOFIQ, CASE NO. 2:20-cv-01780-JRC 11 Plaintiff, ORDER ON STIPULATED 12 v. MOTION FOR EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT FEES 13 COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, 14 Defendant. 15 16 This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c), Fed. R. Civ. P. 73, and Local 17 Magistrate Judge Rule MJR 13. See Consent to Proceed Before a United States Magistrate Judge, 18 Dkt. 2. This matter is before the Court on plaintiff’s motion for attorney fees under the Equal 19 Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412 (“EAJA”). See Dkt. 17. The motion is stipulated. Id. 20 Ordinarily, a request for EAJA fees should be accompanied by a declaration that 21 plaintiff’s net worth did not exceed $2,000,000 at the time the action was filed. 28 U.S.C. § 22 2412(d)(2)(B). However, the Court previously granted plaintiff’s in forma pauperis application 23 in this matter. See Dkt. 4. Therefore, based on the EAJA, the stipulation of the parties, the 24 1 attorney declaration and time and expense itemizations (Dkt. 18), and the relevant record, it is 2 hereby ORDERED that EAJA attorney’s fees of $6,148.96 shall be awarded to plaintiff pursuant 3 to the EAJA and consistent with Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 588–89 (2010). 4 The Commissioner shall contact the Department of Treasury after the Order for EAJA 5 fees is entered to determine if the EAJA fees are subject to any offset. If it is determined that 6 plaintiff’s EAJA fees are not subject to any offset allowed pursuant to the Department of the 7 Treasury’s Offset Program, then the check for EAJA fees shall be made payable to Tha Win, 8 based on plaintiff’s assignment of these amounts to plaintiff’s attorney. See Dkt. 17-2. If there is 9 an offset, the remainder shall be made payable to plaintiff, based on the practice of the 10 Department of the Treasury. See, e.g., Case No. 2:15-cv-122, Dkt. 22, at 4. Any check for EAJA 11 fees shall be mailed to plaintiff’s counsel, Tha Win, at 606 Maynard Ave. South, Suite 201, 12 Seattle, WA 98104. 13 Dated this 1st day of December, 2021. 14 A 15 J. Richard Creatura 16 Chief United States Magistrate Judge 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24