Diaz De Leon v. Andrew Saul

Opinion

1 || HARVEY P. SACKETT (72488) 2 □□□ □□□ T AND ASSOCIATES 3 A PROFESSIONAL LAW CORP. 4 ||548 Market Street, Suite 38822 San Francisco, California 94104-5401 5 || Telephone: (408) 295-7755 Facsimile: (408) 295-7444 © || Email: hps@sackettlaw.com 7 Attorney for Plaintiff 8 |! /as 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 ||GEORGE DIAZ DE LEON, ) Case No.: 3:20-cv-03552-SK 13 ) Plaintiff, ) STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR 14 THE AWARD AND PAYMENT V. ) OF ATTORNEY FEES 15 ) | PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL 16 || KILOLO KIJAKAZI,' ) ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 28 Acting Commissioner of Social Security, ) U.S.C. § 2412(d) 17 Defendant. ) 18 ) 19 —) 20 On November 9, 2021 this Court issued an order reversing the final decision of the 21 || Defendant, Andrew Saul, the Commissioner of Social Security (Commissioner), with a remand 92 ||for a rehearing, 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) (sentence four); judgment was entered. || 24 ||! Kilolo Kijakazi became the Acting Commissioner of Social Security on July 9, 2021. Pursuant to 25 Rule 25(d)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Kilolo Kijakazi should be substituted, therefore, for Commissioner Andrew Saul as Defendant in this suit. No further action need be taken to continue 26 this suit by reason of the last sentence of section 205(g) of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). 27 28

LAW CORP. STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR THE AWARD AND PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES Street, Suite 38822 1! DURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(a)

1 In the interest of administrative and judicial economy, the parties have agreed to 2 stipulate that an award of FIVE THOUSAND NINETY-THREE DOLLARS AND 3 || SEVENTY-SIX CENTS ($5,093.76) in attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act 4 (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), is reasonable. This award is without prejudice to Plaintiff's 5 right to seek attorney’s fees under section 206(b) of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 6 406(b), subject to the offset provisions of the EAJA. However, this award shall constitute a 7 complete release from and bar to any claims Plaintiff may have relating to EAJA fees and 8 || costs. Further, such award shall not be used as precedent in any future cases, nor be construed 9 |] as a concession by the Commissioner that the original administrative decision denying benefits 10 |! to Plaintiff was not substantially justified. 11 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the Government will 12 || consider the matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to Harvey P. Sackett (“Counsel”). 13 || Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586 (2010), the ability to honor an assignment will 14 depend on whether the fees are subject to any offset allowed under the United States 15 Department of the Treasury’s Offset Program. After the order for EAJA is entered, the 16 || Government will determine whether they are subject to offset. Fees shall be made payable to 17 || Plaintiff, but if the Department of Treasury determines Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, 18 || then the Government shall cause the payment of fees, expenses, and costs to be made payable 19 directly to Counsel, pursuant to the assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any payments made 20 || shall be delivered and made payable to Counsel. 21 Accordingly, Defendant agrees to pay Plaintiff $5,093.76 in attorney’s fees. 22 All parties whose signature lines appear in this document have consented to its filing. 23 || This award is without prejudice to the rights of Sackett and Associates and/or Harvey P. 24 || Sackett to seek Social Security Act attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the 25 savings clause provisions of the EAJA. 26 27 28 ° LAW CORP. STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR THE AWARD AND PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES Street, Suite 38822 |! BURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)

1 |) Dated: January 18, 2022 SACKETT AND ASSOCIATES 2 By: /s/ HARVEY P. SACKETT 3 HARVEY P. SACKETT Attorney for Plaintiff 4 GEORGE DIAZ DE LEON 5 Dated: January 18, 2022 STEPHANIE HINDS 6 United States Attorney 7 By: /s/ ARMAND D. ROTH 8 ARMAND D. ROTH Special Assistant United States Attorney 9 Attorney for Defendant 10 [*As authorized by email on 1/18/22] i ORDER 12 Pursuant to the stipulation, the Court Orders Defendant to pay Plaintiff $5,093.76 in attorneys’ fees. 13 14 15 16 Dated: January 19, 2022 hatha [low HON. SALLIE KIM 17 United States Magistrate Judge 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 ° LAW CORP. STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR THE AWARD AND PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES Street, Suite 38822 |! BURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)