(SS) Garcia v. Commissioner of Social Security

1 Jared Walker (SB#269029) P.O. Box 1777 2 Orangevale, CA 95662 T: (916) 476-5044 3 F: (916) 476-5064 jared@jwalker.law [4] 5 Attorney for Plaintiff, GEORGINA E. GARCIA [6] 7 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 GEORGINA E. GARCIA, Case No.: 1:20-cv-01366-SKO 10 Plaintiff, STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR THE 11 v. AWARD OF ATTORNEY FEES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE 12 KILOLO KIJAKAZI, ACT, 28 U.S.C. § 2412 Acting Commissioner of the Social Security 13 Administration, (Doc. 18) 14 Defendant. [15] 16 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their undersigned 17 counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff be awarded attorney fees, expenses, and 18 costs in the above-entitled action in the amount of $1,799.29, which total amount the parties 19 stipulate consists of $1,377.99 in fees and $21.30 in expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act 20 (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412 (d), together with $400.00 in costs as authorized by 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920 , 21 2412(a). This amount represents compensation for all legal services and expenses incurred on 22 behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action. 23 Upon the Court’s issuance of an order granting EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will 24 determine the issue of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to Plaintiff’s attorney. Pursuant to Astrue 25 v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 597-598 (2010), the ability to honor the assignment will depend on if the 26 fees are subject to any offset allowed under the United States Department of the Treasury’s Offset 27 Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine whether they are 28 subject to any offset. 1 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury determines 2 that Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government will cause the payment of fees to be 3 made directly to Plaintiff’s attorney, LAW OFFICE OF JARED T. WALKER, P.C., pursuant to the 4 assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any payments made to Plaintiff will be delivered to JARED T. 5 WALKER. 6 This stipulation constitutes a settlement of Plaintiff’s request for EAJA attorney fees and 7 does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of defendant under the EAJA or otherwise. 8 Payment of the agreed amount will constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any and all claims 9 that Plaintiff and/or Plaintiff’s attorney, including LAW OFFICE OF JARED T. WALKER, P.C., 10 may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection with this action. 11 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Plaintiff’s counsel to seek Social Security 12 attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406 (b), subject to the savings clause provisions of the EAJA. 13 Dated: September 27, 2021 Respectfully submitted, 14 /s/ Jared Walker JARED T. WALKER, 15 Attorney for Plaintiff 16 SO STIPULATED: 17 PHILLIP A. TALBERT Acting United States Attorney 18 DEBORAH LEE STACHEL Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX [19] Social Security Administration [20] By: /s/ *Marcelo N. Illarmo 21 MARCELO N. ILLARMO (*authorized by e-mail on 9/28/2021) [22] Special Assistant United States Attorney Attorneys for Defendant [28] 1 ORDER 2 Based upon the parties’ foregoing Stipulation for Award of Attorney Fees pursuant to the 3 Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) (Doc. 18), 4 IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiff is awarded $1,799.29 (consisting of 1,377.99 in fees and 5 $21.30 in expenses) under 28 U.S.C. § 2412 (d), and $400.00 in costs as authorized by 28 U.S.C. §§ 6 1920, 2412(a), for a total amount of $1,799.29 awarded to Plaintiff pursuant to this Order, inclusive 7 of all amounts claimed, subject to and in accordance with the terms of the parties’ foregoing 8 Stipulation. 9 IT IS SO ORDERED. [10] Dated: September 30, 2021 /s/ Sheila K. Oberto . 11 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE