Black v. Saul

• Court: District Court, N.D. California
• Decided: September 10, 2021
• Docket: 4:20-cv-04463
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 LAUREN MELYNN JOHNSON, SBN 322318 BAY AREA LEGAL AID 2 1735 Telegraph Ave. Oakland, CA 94612 3 ljohnson@baylegal.org Phone: (510) 250-5203 4 Fax: (510) 663-4740 Attorney for Plaintiff 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 8 SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION 9 10 TINA MARIE BLACK, 11 Plaintiff, CIVIL NO. 4:20-cv-04463-KAW 12 v. STIPULATION AND ORDER 13 KILOLO KIJAKAZI, APPROVING SETTLEMENT OF 14 Acting Commissioner of Social Security, ATTORNEY FEES PURSUANT TO THE Defendant EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 28 15 U.S.C. § 2412(d) AND COSTS PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § 1920 16 17 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties, through their undersigned counsel, 18 subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff will be awarded attorney fees in the amount of 19 $7,000 under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), and zero dollars ($00.00) 20 in costs under Taxation of Costs, 28 U.S.C. § 1920. This amount represents compensation for all legal 21 services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action, in accordance 22 with 28 U.S.C. §§ 2412(d), 1920. 23 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the Government will consider any 24 assignment of EAJA fees to Plaintiff’s counsel, Bay Area Legal Aid. Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 25 130 S.Ct. 2521, 2252-2253 (2010), the ability to honor any such assignment will depend on whether 26 the fees are subject to any offset allowed under the United States Department of the Treasury's Offset 27 1 Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the Government will determine whether they are 2 subject to any offset. 3 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury determines that 4 Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause the payment of fees to be made 5 directly to Bay Area Legal Aid, Tax ID# 94-1631316, pursuant to any assignment executed by 6 Plaintiff. Any payments made shall be delivered to Plaintiff’s counsel, Bay Area Legal Aid, 1735 7 Telegraph Ave., Oakland, CA 94612. 8 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for EAJA attorney 9 fees and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant under the EAJA. 10 Payment of the agreed amount shall constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any and all claims 11 that Plaintiff and/or Plaintiff’s counsel may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection with 12 this action. This award is without prejudice to the rights of Plaintiff’s counsel to seek Social Security 13 Act attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause provisions of the EAJA, 14 although Bay Area Legal Aid has waived their right to claim any fees under 42 U.S.C. §406(b). 15 16 Respectfully submitted, 17 18 Dated: August 24, 2021 By: __/s/ Lauren M. Johnson____________ Lauren M. Johnson 19 Bay Area Legal Aid 20 Attorney for Plaintiff 21 22 Dated: August 24, 2021 By: __/s/ Jennifer A. Kenney____________ Stephanie Hinds 23 Acting United States Attorney 24 Jennifer A. Kenney Special Assistant United States Attorney 25 Attorney for Defendant 26 27 1 2 ORDER 3 PURSUANT TO THE STIPULATION, IT IS SO ORDERED. 4 . 5 Dated: September 10, 2021 By: Kemal ulate Un A DIS A. WESTMORE 6 United States Magistrate Judge 7 8 9 10 1] 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28