Vega v. Commissioner of Social Security Administration

Filing 23

ORDER: IT IS ORDERED that the parties' Stipulation for Award of Attorney Fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (Doc. 21 ) is granted and Plaintiff is awarded $7,319.41 in attorneys' fees. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, pursuant to the parties' stipulation, if the government determines that Plaintiff does not owe a debt subject to offset under the Treasury Offset Program, 31 U.SC. § 3716(c), and the government agrees to waive the requirements of the Anti-Assignment Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3727, the government shall pay the EAJA award to Plaintiff's counsel [see attached Order for details]. Signed by Judge Dominic W Lanza on 9/17/19. (MAW)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

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Kim A. Vega,

No. CV-18-01552-PHX-DWL
Plaintiff,

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v.

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Commissioner
Administration,

ORDER

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of

Social

Security

Defendant.
Pending before the Court is the parties’ Stipulation for Award of Attorney Fees
under the Equal Access to Justice Act. (Doc. 22.)

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“The Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) instructs that this court ‘shall’ grant

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attorneys[’] fees to a prevailing plaintiff ‘unless’ the government meets its burden to

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demonstrate that both its litigation position and the agency decision on review were

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‘substantially justified.’” Campbell v. Astrue, 736 F.3d 867, 868 (9th Cir. 2013) (quoting

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28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(1)(a)). Here, the government stipulates to an award of attorneys’

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fees in lieu of arguing that its position was substantially justified, and therefore the Court

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must grant attorneys’ fees. See, e.g., Robinson v. Berryhill, 2018 WL 7140957, *2 (9th

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Cir. 2018) (“Pursuant to the parties’ stipulation and the [EAJA], 24 U.S.C. § 2412(d),

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attorney’s fees . . . and costs . . . are awarded.”); Wheatley v. Berryhill, 2018 WL

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6579351, *1 (9th Cir. 2018) (same).

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Attorneys’ fees pursuant to the EAJA “shall not be awarded in excess of $125 per

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hour unless the court determines that an increase in the cost of living or a special factor,

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such as the limited availability of qualified attorneys for the proceedings involved,

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justifies a higher fee.” 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(2)(A). “Appropriate cost-of-living increases

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are calculated by multiplying the $125 statutory rate by the annual average consumer

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price index figure for all urban consumers (‘CPI–U’) for the years in which counsel's

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work was performed, and then dividing by the CPI–U figure for March 1996, the

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effective date of EAJA’s $125 statutory rate.” Thangaraja v. Gonzales, 428 F.3d 870,

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876–77 (9th Cir. 2005). However, the Ninth Circuit has simplified this process by

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posting the statutory maximum rates from 2009 to the present on its website, available at

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https://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/content/view.php?pk_id=0000000039.

The Court finds

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that the stipulated amount of attorneys’ fees, $7,319.41, is appropriate and does not

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exceed the statutory maximum.

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Accordingly,

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IT IS ORDERED that the parties’ Stipulation for Award of Attorney Fees under

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the Equal Access to Justice Act (Doc. 21) is granted and Plaintiff is awarded $7,319.41 in

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attorneys’ fees.

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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, pursuant to the parties’ stipulation, if the

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government determines that Plaintiff does not owe a debt subject to offset under the

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Treasury Offset Program, 31 U.SC. § 3716(c), and the government agrees

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to waive the requirements of the Anti-Assignment Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3727, the government

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shall pay the EAJA award to Plaintiff’s counsel. If there is a debt owed under the

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Treasury Offset Program, the remaining EAJA award after offset will be paid by a check

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made out to Plaintiff but delivered to Plaintiff’s counsel.

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Dated this 17th day of September, 2019.

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