Rashaad v. Saul

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 DEMETRIUS RASHAAD, Case No. 19-cv-1126-MMA (MDD)

12 Plaintiff, ORDER AWARDING EQUAL 13 v. ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND 14 ANDREW M. SAUL, Commissioner of EXPENSES PURSUANT TO 28 Social Security, 15 U.S.C. § 2412(d) AND COSTS Defendant. PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § 1920 16

17 [Doc. No. 27] 18 19 On June 17, 2019, Demetrius Rashaad (“Plaintiff”) filed this social security appeal 20 challenging the denial of his application for disability insurance benefits. See Doc. No. 1 21 ¶¶ 6, 7, 9.1 The Court referred all matters arising in this social security appeal to the 22 assigned Magistrate Judge for report and recommendation (“R&R”) pursuant to 28 23 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B) and Civil Local Rule 72.1. See Doc. No. 9. On August 5, 2020, 24 the Magistrate Judge issued a R&R recommending that the Court remand the case for 25 further administrative action to determine whether Plaintiff is disabled. See Doc. No. 21. 26 27 28 1 ||Andrew M. Saul, Commissioner of Social Security, (“Commissioner’’) objected to the 2 |[R&R. See Doc. No. 22. The Court overruled the Commissioner’s objection, adopted the 3 ||Magistrate Judge’s R&R, granted Plaintiffs motion for summary judgment, denied the 4 ||Commissioner’s cross-motion for summary judgment, and remanded the matter to the 5 ||Social Security Administration for further administrative proceedings consistent with the 6 ||Court’s Order and the Magistrate Judge’s R&R. See Doc. No. 24. The parties now 7 ||stipulate to an award to Plaintiff of attorneys’ fees and expenses in the total amount of 8 ||$5,700.00 under the Equal Access to Justice Act (“EAJA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) and 9 |\costs in the amount of $400.00 under 28 U.S.C. § 1920. See Doc. No. 27. 10 The EAJA allows a prevailing party to seek attorney’s fees from the United States 11 ||within thirty days of final judgment. See 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). “A sentence four remand 12 ||becomes a final judgment, for purposes of attorneys’ fees claims brought pursuant to the 13 ||EAJA, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), upon expiration of the time for appeal.” Akopyan v. 14 || Barnhart, 296 F.3d 852, 854 (9th Cir. 2002) (citing Shalala v. Schaefer, 509 U.S. 292, 15 ||297 (1993)). If one of the parties is the United States, either party may file a notice of 16 ||appeal within sixty days of the order appealed from. See Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(1)(B). “A 17 ||plaintiff who obtains a sentence four remand is considered a prevailing party for purposes 18 ||of attorneys’ fees.” Akopyan, 296 F.3d at 854 (citing Shalala, 509 U.S. at 301-02). 19 Therefore, Plaintiff is the prevailing party in this action for purposes of attorneys’ fees 20 ||and costs, the parties’ joint motion is timely, and the Court finds the stipulated amount of 21 ||fees and expenses reasonable. 22 Accordingly, the Court GRANTS the joint motion and AWARDS Plaintiff fees 23 expenses in the total amount of $5,700.00 and costs in the total amount of $400.00. 24 IT IS SO ORDERED. 25 ||Dated: September 30, 2020 26 . UW 28 United States District Judge