Minh v. Saul

• Court: District Court, S.D. California
• Decided: August 27, 2021
• Docket: 3:20-cv-02233
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

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5 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 |} 11 || TOAN M., Case No.: 3:20-cv-02233-RBM 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING JOINT 13 . MOTION FOR AWARD AND 14 || KILOLO KUAKAZI, ACTING PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL AND EXPENSES PURSUANT TO 15 . THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE: SECURITY, . 16 ACT Defendant. [Doc. 17] . 18 19 On November 16, 2020, Plaintiff Toan M. (“Plaintiff”) filed a complaint against the 20 || Commissioner of Social Security,' seeking judicial review of the Commissioner’s decision 21 || denying her application for Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security 22 Income benefits. (Doc. 1.) The parties jointly moved to remand the action to the Social 23 || Security Administration for further proceedings pursuant to sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 24 405(g). (Doc. 14.) On June 16, 2021, the undersigned granted the motion and remanded 25 26 = . 27 28 1 Kilolo Kijakazi became the Acting Commissioner of Social Security on July 9, 2021 and is therefore substituted for Andrew M. Saul as Defendant. See 42 U.S.C. § 405(g); FED. R. CIV. P. 25(d). ]

1 action to the Social Security Administration for further administrative proceedings 2 |\consistent with the terms set forth in the parties’ joint motion. (Doc. 15.) 3 The parties now stipulate to and jointly move for an award to Plaintiff of attorney’s 4 || fees and expenses in the amount of five hundred ninety-three dollars and ninety-three 5 || cents ($593.93) under the Equal Access to Justice Act (“EAJA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). 6 ||(Doc. 17 at 1.). . 7 The EAJA allows a prevailing party to seek attorney’s fees from the United States 8 || within thirty days of final judgment. See 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). “A plaintiff who obtains a 9 sentence four remand is considered a prevailing party for purposes of attorneys’ fees.” 10 || Akopyan v. Barnhart, 296 F.3d 852, 854 (9th Cir. 2002) (internal citation omitted). 11 || Therefore, Plaintiffis the prevailing party in this action for purposes of awarding attorney’s 12 —

13 “A sentence four remand becomes a final judgment, for purposes of attorneys’ fees 14 claims brought pursuant to the EAJA, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), upon expiration of the time for 15 || appeal.” Id. (internal citation omitted). Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a)(1)(B) 16 || provides for a sixty-day appeal period in cases in which the United States is a party ora 17 || United States officer or employee is sued in an official capacity. Here, the sixty-day appeal 18 || period for the undersigned’s June 16, 2021 order and judgment expired on or about August 19 || 16, 2021. The sentence four remand is now a final judgment and the parties’ joint motion 20 timely. | . 21 Pursuant to the EAJA, the amount of fees awarded are “based upon prevailing 22 ||market rates for the kind and quality of the services furnished...” See 28 U.S.C. § 23 2412(d)(2)(A). “[A]ttorney fees shall not be awarded in excess of $125.00 per hour unless 24 ||the court determines that an increase in the cost of living or a special factor, such as the 25 || limited availability of qualified attorneys for the proceedings involved, justifies a higher 26 fee.” 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(2)(A)(ii).: The Ninth Circuit’s 2020 statutory maximum hourly 27 ||rates under the EAJA, adjusted for increases in the cost of living, was $207.78. See 28 ||“Statutory Maximum Rates Under the Equal Access to Justice Act,”

1 || https://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/attorneys/statutory-maximum-rates/ (last visited Aug. 27, 2 || 2021) (citing 28 U.S.C. § 2412 (d)(2)(A); Thangaraja v. Gonzales, 428 F.3d 870, 876-77 3 || (9th Cir. 2005); Ninth Circuit Rule 39-1.6). 4 _ At an hourly rate of $207.78, the requested fee award represents compensation for 5 || approximately 2.8 hours of work performed by Plaintiff's counsel and twelve dollars and 6 || fifteen cents ($12.15) for postage. (Doc. 17-1 at 1); see also Int’l Woodworkers of Am. v. 7 || Donovan, 792 F.2d 762, 767 (9th Cir. 1985) (affirming district court’s award of costs under 8 || EAJA, including postage expenses). Work performed by Plaintiffs counsel consists of 9 reviewing the case, filing a complaint (Doc. 1), and assisting Plaintiff with an in forma 10 || pauperis motion (Doc. 2). (/d.) Having reviewed the parties’ joint motion and relevant 11 || authority, the undersigned finds the request for fees and expenses reasonable. 12 For good cause shown, the joint motion is GRANTED, subject to the terms of the 13 parties’ joint motion. Accordingly, the undersigned AWARDS Plaintiff attorney’s fees 14 || and expenses in the amount of five hundred ninety-three dollars and ninety-three cents 15 || ($593.93). 16 IT IS SO ORDERED. 17 || DATE: August 27, 2021 □ □ 18 19 HON. RUTH BERMUDEZ MONTENEGRO UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 20 —. 21 22 23 . 24 25 26 27 28