Cruz v. Commissioner of Social Security

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT TACOMA CARL L. CRUZ, Plaintiff, Case No. C21-1454-DGE v. ORDER GRANTING REVISED 10 STIPULATED MOTION FOR COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, ATTORNEY FEES Defendant.

13 This matter comes before the Court on the parties’ revised stipulated motion for attorney fees pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412. Dkt. 22.

15 The Court previously granted the parties’ prior stipulated motion and awarded Plaintiff $6,957.10 in attorney fees on July 13, 2022. Dkt. 20. On July 25, 2022, Plaintiff withdrew the motion due to a calculation error (Dkt. 21.) and filed a revised stipulated motion with the corrected attorney fees. Dkt. 22.

19 The motion is timely as Plaintiff had a 60-day appeal period, plus the 30-day period in §2412(d)(1)(B), from the entry of final judgement on April 18, 2022 to file a timely EAJA application. Akopyan v. Barnhart, 296 F.3d 852 (9th Cir. 2002); Melkonyan v. Sullivan, 501 22 U.S. 89, 94–96 (1991); Fed. R. App. P. 4(a). Furthermore, upon review of the stipulation and the record, the Court determines that Plaintiff is the prevailing party, the government’s position was the requirements of § 2412(d)(1)(B) are met.

2 Having thoroughly considered the parties’ briefing and the relevant record, the Court hereby GRANTS the revised motion and awards Plaintiff $3,300 in attorney fees, subject to any offset allowed under the Treasury Offset Program. See Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 589–90 (2010). Payment of EAJA fees shall be sent to Plaintiff’s attorney by either EFT or check: David Oliver at David Oliver & Associates, 2608 South 47th Street, Suite C, Tacoma, WA 98409. Pursuant to Ratliff, award shall be payable to Plaintiff’s attorneys, David Oliver at David Oliver & Associates, if the Commissioner confirms that Plaintiff owes no debt to the Government through the Federal Treasury Offset program.

10 For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff’s revised stipulated motion for attorney fees is GRANTED.

12 DATED this 26th day of July 2022.

A David G. Estudillo United States District Judge