(SS) Romo v. Commissioner of Social Security

• Court: District Court, E.D. California
• Decided: December 19, 2024
• Docket: 1:24-cv-00455
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 Jonathan O. Peña, Esq. 2 CA Bar ID No.: 278044 Peña & Bromberg, PLC 3 3467 W. Shaw Ave., Ste 100 4 Fresno, CA 93711 Telephone: 559-439-9700 5 Facsimile: 559-439-9723 6 Email: info@jonathanpena.com Attorney for Plaintiff, Johanna Isabel Romo 7

8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA FRESNO DIVISION 11 12 Johanna Isabel Romo, Case No. 1:24-cv-00455-JLT-GSA

13 Plaintiff, STIPULATION FOR THE AWARD 14 AND PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY v. FEES AND EXPENSES PURSUANT 15 TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO 16 Carolyn Colvin1, COMMISIONER JUSTICE ACT; ORDER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, 17 18 Defendant. 19 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their 20 undersigned counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff be awarded 21 attorney fees and expenses in the amount of SEVEN THOUSAND FIVE-HUNDRED 22 00/100 ($7,500.00) under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), 23 and costs in the amount of ZERO dollars ($0.00) under 28 U.S.C. §1920. This amount 24 25 1 Carolyn Colvin became the Commissioner of Social Security on November 30, 26 2024. Pursuant to Rule 25(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Carolyn Colvin should be substituted for Martin O’Malley as the defendant in this suit. No further 27 action need be taken to continue this suit by reason of the last sentence of section 205(g) of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). 1 represents compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel 2 in connection with this civil action, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920, 2412(d). 3 Plaintiff was the prevailing party in this matter and Plaintiff is an individual 4 whose net worth does not exceed $2,000,000 at the time the civil action was filed. 5 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will 6 consider the matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to counsel. Pursuant to 7 Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586, 598, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 177 L.Ed.2d 91 (2010), the ability 8 to honor the assignment will depend on whether the fees are subject to any offset 9 allowed under the United States Department of the Treasury’s Offset Program. After 10 the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine whether they are 11 subject to any offset. 12 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury 13 determines that Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause 14 the payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made directly to Jonathan O. Peña, 15 16 pursuant to the assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any payments made shall be 17 delivered to Jonathan O. Peña and may be paid by a check or electronic fund transfer 18 (ETF).This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for 19 EAJA attorney fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of 20 Defendant under the EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall constitute 21 a complete release from, and bar to, any and all claims that Plaintiff and/or Jonathan O. 22 Peña, including Peña & Bromberg, PLC, may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in 23 connection with this action. 24 The parties further agree that the EAJA award is without prejudice to the right of 25 Plaintiff’s attorney to seek attorney fees pursuant to Social Security Act § 206(b), 42 26 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the offset provisions of the EAJA. See 28 U.S.C. § 27 2412(c)(1) (2006). 1 Respectfully submitted, 2

3 Dated: December 18, 2024 /s/ Jonathan O. Peña 4 J ONATHAN O. PEÑA Attorney for Plaintiff 5

6 Dated: December 18, 2024 PHILLIP A. TALBERT 7 United States Attorney MATHEW W. PILE 8 Associate General Counsel 9 Office of Program Litigation Social Security Administration 10 11 By: _*_Mary Tsai Mary Tsai 12 Special Assistant U.S. Attorney 13 Attorneys for Defendant (*Permission to use electronic signature 14 obtained via email on December 18, 2024). 15 16 ORDER 17 18 Based upon the parties’ Stipulation for the Award and Payment of Equal Access 19 to Justice Act Fees and Expenses (the “Stipulation”), 20 IT IS ORDERED that fees and expenses in the amount of SEVEN THOUSAND 21 22 FIVE-HUNDRED 00/100 ($7,500.00) as authorized by the Equal Access to Justice Act 23 (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), be awarded subject to the terms of the Stipulation. 24

25 IT IS SO ORDERED.

26 Dated: December 18, 2024 /s/ Gary S. Austin 27 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE