2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 DARREN C., Case No.: 3:21-cv-01012-AHG 12 Plaintiff, ORDER REQUIRING 13 v. SUPPLEMENTAL BRIEFING 14 KILOLO KIJAKAZI, Commissioner of [ECF No. 23] Social Security, 15 Defendant. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2 Fees and Expenses Pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), and 3 Costs Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1920. ECF No. 23. The parties jointly move the court to 4 award Plaintiff Darren C. (“Plaintiff”) attorney fees and expenses pursuant to the Equal 5 Access to Justice Act (“EAJA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), and costs pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 6 1920. Id. 7 Under the EAJA, a litigant is entitled to attorney fees and costs if: “(1) he is the 8 prevailing party; (2) the government fails to show that its position was substantially 9 justified or that special circumstances make an award unjust; and (3) the requested fees and 10 costs are reasonable.” Carbonell v. I.N.S., 429 F.3d 894, 898 (9th Cir. 2005). To assess the 11 third factor of whether the requested fees are reasonable, the Court assesses whether the 12 hourly rates and number of hours billed are reasonable. See, e.g., Beatriz B. v. Saul, No. 13 19cv785-AHG, 2020 WL 5203371, at *2–*3 (S.D. Cal. Sept. 1, 2020); Smith v. Berryhill, 14 No. 17cv2108-CAB-RNB, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89885, at *5 (S.D. Cal. Mar. 14, 2019); 15 Ulugalu v. Berryhill, No. 17cv1087-GPC-JLB, 2018 WL 2012330, at *3–*4 (S.D. Cal. 16 Apr. 30, 2018). 17 The parties failed to include a billing statement with their joint motion, or any 18 information regarding the number of hours billed and at what rates. Since this information 19 is essential to the Court’s analysis of the reasonableness of the requested fees, the Court 20 ORDERS the parties to submit a Joint Supplemental Brief no later than 21 December 22, 2022. The Joint Supplemental Brief shall include the names, qualifications, 22 experience, and hourly billing rates of all attorneys and paralegals who worked on this case 23 on behalf of Plaintiff. The parties shall also attach Plaintiff’s billing statement as an exhibit, 24 which should include dates, time spent, attorney or paralegal designation, description of 25 actions, and totals. 26 Additionally, the parties request that, if Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt making 27 the fees subject to offset, any payments of EAJA fees and costs shall be paid directly to 28 Plaintiff’s counsel Karl Osterhout, “pursuant to the assignment executed by Plaintiff.” ECF No. 23 at 2. This request is consistent with the governing law that a fee award may be paid 1 || directly to a litigant’s attorney “where there has been a valid assignment and the plaintiff 2 || does not owe a debt to the government.” Ulugalu, 2018 WL 2012330, at *4—*5 (reviewing 3 || Plaintiff's assignment agreement and ordering that the EAJA fees be paid to plaintiffs 4 ||counsel, subject to any administrative offset due to outstanding federal debt). See also Bell 5 || v. Berryhill, No. 16cv809-MMC, 2018 WL 452110, at *5 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 17, 2018) (same); 6 || Blackwell v. Astrue, No. CIV-08-1454-EFB, 2011 WL 1077765, at *4—*5 (E.D. Cal. Mar. 7 |{21, 2011) (same). However, the parties here have not provided the relevant assignment 8 ||agreement to the Court. Therefore, the Court will not order the payment of fees and costs 9 ||to be made directly to Plaintiffs counsel unless the parties provide evidence of the 10 |/assignment agreement in their supplemental briefing. See Hernandez v. Berryhill, No. 11 |} 15cev1322-DB, 2017 WL 2930802, at *3 (E.D. Cal. July 10, 2017) (declining to order that 12 ||the EAJA fees be paid to plaintiffs counsel, subject to any administrative offset due to 13 || outstanding federal debt, because the parties failed to produce evidence of an assignment 14 agreement). If the parties wish the Court to include an instruction that EAJA fees and costs 15 ||be paid directly to Plaintiff's counsel, they are ORDERED to provide evidence of the 16 || assignment agreement in the Joint Supplemental Brief. 17 IT IS SO ORDERED. De dicoennH. Movolann 19 Dated: December 15, 2022 Honorable Allison H. Goddard 20 United States Magistrate Judge 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28