(SS) Louie v. Commissioner of Social Security
(SS) Louie v. Commissioner of Social Security
Trial Court Opinion
McGREGOR W. SCOTT 1 United States Attorney DEBORAH LEE STACHEL, CA SBN 230138 2 Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX Social Security Administration 3 ELLINOR R. CODER, CA SBN 258258 Special Assistant United States Attorney 4 160 Spear Street, Suite 800 San Francisco, California 94105 5 Telephone: (415) 977-8955 Facsimile: (415) 744-0134 6 E-Mail: [email protected]
7 Attorneys for Defendant 8
9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 SACRAMENTO DIVISION 12
13 BONNIE JEAN LOUIE, ) CIVIL No. 2:18-cv-02416-DB 14 ) Plaintiff, ) STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR THE 15 v. ) AWARD AND PAYMENT OF ) ATTORNEY FEES AND EXPENSES 16 ANDREW SAUL, ) PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS Commissioner of Social Security, ) TO JUSTICE ACT,
28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) 17 ) Defendant. ) 18 ) ) 19 20 WHEREAS the Court remanded this matter for further administrative proceedings 21 pursuant to the parties’ stipulation (Dkt. 17-18), and entered judgment on August 12, 2019 (Dkt. 22 19). 23 WHEREAS, on October 25, 2019, Plaintiff filed a Notice of Motion and Motion for 24 Award of Attorney Fees Pursuant to Equal Access to Justice Act (Dkt. 20), requesting $3,825.71 25 in attorney fees. Plaintiff also provided a copy to Defendant of the assignment reflecting 26 Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to her counsel. 27 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their undersigned 28 counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff be awarded attorney fees and 1 expenses in the amount of $3,825.71 under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. 2 § 2412(d). This amount represents compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of 3 Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action, in accordance with
28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). 4 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will consider 5 the matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to her Counsel, Jesse Kaplan. Pursuant to 6 Astrue v. Ratliff,
560 U.S. 586, 598,
130 S.Ct. 2521,
177 L.Ed.2d 91(2010), the ability to honor 7 the assignment will depend on whether the fees are subject to any offset allowed under the 8 United States Department of the Treasury’s Offset Program. After the order for EAJA fees is 9 entered, the government will determine whether they are subject to any offset. 10 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury determines 11 that Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause the payment of fees, 12 expenses and costs to be made directly to Counsel, pursuant to the assignment executed by 13 Plaintiff. Any payments made shall be delivered to Counsel. 14 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for EAJA 15 attorney fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant under the 16 EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall constitute a complete release from, and 17 bar to, any and all claims that Plaintiff and/or Counsel, including Counsel’s firm, may have 18 relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection with this action. 19 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Counsel and/or Counsel’s firm to seek 20 Social Security Act attorney fees under
42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause 21 provisions of the EAJA. 22 Respectfully submitted, 23 Dated: November 18, 2019 /s/ Jesse S. Kaplan* JESSE S. KAPLAN 24 ATTORNEY FOR PLAINTIFF 25 *By email authorization on Nov. 18, 2019 26 MCGREGOR W. SCOTT 27 United States Attorney DEBORAH LEE STACHEL 28 Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX Social Security Administration 1 By: /s/ Ellinor R. Coder 2 ELLINOR R. CODER 3 Special Assistant United States Attorney
4 Attorneys for Defendant 5 6 ORDER 7 Pursuant to the parties’ stipulation, IT IS SO ORDERED.1 8 DATED: November 20, 2019 /s/ DEBORAH BARNES 9 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 1 In light of the parties’ stipulation, plaintiff’s October 25, 2019 motion for attorney’s fees (ECF No. 20) is denied as having been rendered moot.
Reference
- Status
- Unknown