Hassick v. Commissioner of Social Security

Opinion

1 CHIEF U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE RICARDO S. MARTINEZ

6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 7 SEATTLE DIVISION

8 FAWN M. HASSICK, ) ) CIVIL NO. 2:20-cv-00231-RSM 9 Plaintiff, ) 10 ) vs. ) 11 ) ORDER COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, ) 12 ) Defendant ) 13 )

15 This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiff’s motion for attorney’s fees pursuant to the 16 Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412 17 The motion is timely as Plaintiff had a 60-day appeal period, plus the 30-day period in 18 §2412(d)(1)(B), from the entry of final judgment on August 31, 2020, to file a timely EAJA 19 application. Akopyan v. Barnhart, 296 F.3d 852 (9th Cir. 2002); Melkonyan v. Sullivan, 501 U.S. 20 89, 94-96 (1991); FED. R. App. P. 4(a). Furthermore, upon review of the motion and the record, 21 the Court determines that Plaintiff is the prevailing party, the government’s position was not 22 substantially justified, and that the itemization of attorney time spent is reasonable. In short, the 23 requirements of § 2412(d)(1)(B) are met. 24 25 David Oliver & Associates 2608 South 47th Street, Suite C 1 Having thoroughly considered the parties’ briefing and the relevant record, the Court 2 hereby GRANTS the motion and awards Plaintiff $6,713.28 in attorney’s fees, subject to any offset 3 allowed under the Treasury Offset Program. See. Astrue v. Ratiff, 560 U.S. 586, 589 – 590 (2010). 4 Payment of EAJA fees shall be sent to Plaintiff’s attorney: David Oliver & Associates, 2608 South 5 47th Street, Suite C, Tacoma, WA 98409. Pursuant to Ratiff, award shall be payable to Plaintiff’s 6 attorneys, David Oliver & Associates, if the Commissioner confirms that Plaintiff owes no debt to 7 the Government through the Federal Treasury Offset program. 8 For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff’s motion for attorney fees is GRANTED; 9 DATED this 4th day of December, 2020. 10 11 A 12 RICARDO S. MARTINEZ 13 CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

15 Presented by: 16

17 S/David P. OLIVER David P. Oliver, 18 Attorney for Plaintiff

20 21 22 23 24 25 David Oliver & Associates 2608 South 47th Street, Suite C