Rashaad v. Saul

8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA DEMETRIUS RASHAAD, Case No. 19-cv-1126-MMA (MDD) 12 Plaintiff, ORDER AWARDING EQUAL v. ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND ANDREW M. SAUL, Commissioner of EXPENSES PURSUANT TO 28 Social Security, 15 U.S.C. § 2412(d) AND COSTS Defendant. PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § 1920 17 [Doc. No. 27] 19 On June 17, 2019, Demetrius Rashaad (“Plaintiff”) filed this social security appeal challenging the denial of his application for disability insurance benefits. See Doc. No. 1 ¶¶ 6, 7, 9.1 The Court referred all matters arising in this social security appeal to the assigned Magistrate Judge for report and recommendation (“R&R”) pursuant to 28 23 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B) and Civil Local Rule 72.1. See Doc. No. 9. On August 5, 2020, the Magistrate Judge issued a R&R recommending that the Court remand the case for further administrative action to determine whether Plaintiff is disabled. See Doc. No. 21.

1 ||Andrew M. Saul, Commissioner of Social Security, (“Commissioner’’) objected to the |[R&R. See Doc. No. 22. The Court overruled the Commissioner’s objection, adopted the ||Magistrate Judge’s R&R, granted Plaintiffs motion for summary judgment, denied the ||Commissioner’s cross-motion for summary judgment, and remanded the matter to the ||Social Security Administration for further administrative proceedings consistent with the ||Court’s Order and the Magistrate Judge’s R&R. See Doc. No. 24. The parties now ||stipulate to an award to Plaintiff of attorneys’ fees and expenses in the total amount of ||$5,700.00 under the Equal Access to Justice Act (“EAJA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) and |\costs in the amount of $400.00 under 28 U.S.C. § 1920. See Doc. No. 27.

10 The EAJA allows a prevailing party to seek attorney’s fees from the United States ||within thirty days of final judgment. See 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). “A sentence four remand ||becomes a final judgment, for purposes of attorneys’ fees claims brought pursuant to the ||EAJA, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), upon expiration of the time for appeal.” Akopyan v. || Barnhart, 296 F.3d 852, 854 (9th Cir. 2002) (citing Shalala v. Schaefer, 509 U.S. 292, ||297 (1993)). If one of the parties is the United States, either party may file a notice of ||appeal within sixty days of the order appealed from. See Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(1)(B). “A ||plaintiff who obtains a sentence four remand is considered a prevailing party for purposes ||of attorneys’ fees.” Akopyan, 296 F.3d at 854 (citing Shalala, 509 U.S. at 301-02).

19 Therefore, Plaintiff is the prevailing party in this action for purposes of attorneys’ fees ||and costs, the parties’ joint motion is timely, and the Court finds the stipulated amount of ||fees and expenses reasonable.

22 Accordingly, the Court GRANTS the joint motion and AWARDS Plaintiff fees 23 expenses in the total amount of $5,700.00 and costs in the total amount of $400.00.

24 IT IS SO ORDERED.

25 ||Dated: September 30, 2020 26 . UW 28 United States District Judge