(SS) Odenwelder v. Commissioner of Social Security
(SS) Odenwelder v. Commissioner of Social Security
Trial Court Opinion
1 Francesco Benavides, CSBN 258924 Law Offices of Francesco Benavides 2 1990 N. California Blvd. 8th Floor Walnut Creek, CA 94596 3 Tel: (925) 222-7071 4 Email: [email protected]
5 Attorney for Plaintiff 6 DALLAS TAYLOR ODENWELDER
7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 FRESNO DIVISION 11 DALLAS TAYLOR Case No. 1:24-cv-00912-SKO 12 ODENWELDER, 13 STIPULATION AND UNOPPOSED Plaintiff, MOTION FOR THE AWARD AND 14 PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES AND 15 v. EXPENSES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT; 16 MICHELLE KING, Acting ORDER 17 Commissioner of Social Security, (Doc. 17) 18 Defendant. 19 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their 20 undersigned counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff be awarded 21 attorney fees and expenses in the amount of $8,500.00, under the Equal Access to 22 Justice Act (EAJA),
28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), and no costs under
28 U.S.C. § 1920. This 23 amount represents compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by 24 counsel in connection with this civil action, in accordance with
28 U.S.C. §§ 2412(d), 25 1920. 26 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will 27 consider the matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to counsel. Pursuant to 1 Astrue v. Ratliff,
560 U.S. 586, 598,
130 S.Ct. 2521,
177 L.Ed.2d 91(2010), the ability 2 to honor the assignment will depend on whether the fees are subject to any offset 3 allowed under the United States Department of the Treasury’s Offset Program. After 4 the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine whether they are 5 subject to any offset. 6 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury 7 determines that Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause 8 the payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made directly to Plaintiff’s counsel, 9 Francesco Benavides, pursuant to the assignment executed by Plaintiff. 10 Payments may be made by electronic funds transfer (EFT) or by check. 11 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for 12 EAJA attorney fees and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of 13 Defendant under the EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall 14 constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any and all claims that Plaintiff and/or 15 Francesco Benavides, including the Law Offices of Francesco Benavides, may have 16 relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection with this action. 17 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Francesco Benavides to seek 18 Social Security Act attorney fees under
42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings 19 clause provisions of the EAJA. 20
21 Respectfully submitted, 22
23 Dated: February 4, 2025 Law Offices of Francesco Benavides 24 By: /s/ Francesco Benavides 25 FRANCESCO P. BENAVIDES 26 Attorney for Plaintiff
27 1
2 Dated: February 4, 2025 PHILLIP A. TALBERT 3 United States Attorney 4 MATHEW W. PILE Associate General Counsel 5 Social Security Administration 6 By: Edmund Darcher* 7 EDMUND DARCHER 8 Special Assistant U.S. Attorney 9 Attorneys for Defendant (*Permission to use electronic signature 10 obtained via email on February 4, 2025). 11 ORDER 12 Based upon the parties’ Stipulation and Unopposed Motion for the Award and 13 14 Payment of Equal Access to Justice Act Fees and Expenses (Doc. 17), IT IS ORDERED 15 that fees and expenses in the amount of $8,500 as authorized by
28 U.S.C. § 2412, and 16 no costs under
28 U.S.C. § 1920, be awarded subject to the terms of the Stipulation. 17 18 IT IS SO ORDERED. 19
20 Dated: February 4, 2025 /s/ Sheila K. Oberto . UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 21
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Reference
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