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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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11 BRIEN SCOTT LASTER, Case No. 1:24-cv-00796-CDB (SS)

12 Plaintiff, ORDER ON STIPULATION FOR AWARD

OF ATTORNEY FEES PURSUANT TO THE

13 v. EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) 14 COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, (Doc. 19) 15 Defendant.

16 17 18 Pending before the Court is the stipulated request of Plaintiff Brien Scott Laster 19 (“Plaintiff”) for the award of attorney’s fees pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act 20 (“EAJA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), in the amount of $8,500.00 to counsel for Plaintiff, Francesco 21 Benavides.1 (Doc. 19). 22 The parties agree that an award of attorney’s fees to counsel for Plaintiff should be made 23 payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury determines that Plaintiff does not owe 24 a federal debt, then the Commissioner shall cause the payment of fees, expenses, and costs to be 25 made directly to Plaintiff’s counsel, Francesco Benavides. Id. at 2. 26 On November 7, 2024, the Court granted the parties’ stipulated motion for voluntary 27

1 Both parties have consented to the jurisdiction of a U.S. magistrate judge for all 1 remand and remanded the case pursuant to sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) to the 2 Commissioner for further proceedings. (Doc. 17). Judgment was entered the same day. (Doc. 3 18). On November 19, 2024, Plaintiff filed the pending stipulation for attorney fees as a 4 prevailing party. (Doc. 19). See Shalala v. Schaefer, 509 U.S. 292, 300-02 (1993) (concluding 5 that a party who wins a sentence-four remand order under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) is a prevailing 6 party). Plaintiff’s filing is timely. Van v. Barnhart, 483 F.3d 600, 607 (9th Cir. 2007). The 7 Commissioner does not oppose the requested relief. (Doc. 19). 8 The EAJA provides for an award of attorney fees to private litigants who both prevail in 9 civil actions (other than tort) against the United States and timely file a petition for fees. 28 10 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(1)(A). Under the EAJA, a court shall award attorney fees to the prevailing 11 party unless it finds the government’s position was “substantially justified or that special 12 circumstances make such an award unjust.” Id. Here, the government did not show its position 13 was substantially justified and the Court finds there are not special circumstances that would 14 make an award unjust. Moreover, the government does not oppose Plaintiff’s stipulated request. 15 See Sanchez v. Berryhill, No. 1:16-cv-01081-SKO, 2018 WL 509817, at *2 (E.D. Cal. Jan. 23, 16 2018) (finding position of the government was not substantially justified in view of the 17 Commissioner’s assent to remand); Knyazhina v. Colvin, No. 2:12–cv–2726 DAD, 2014 WL 18 5324302, at *1 (E.D. Cal. Oct. 17, 2014) (same). 19 Plaintiff requests an award of $8,500.00 in EAJA fees. (Doc. 19). The Ninth Circuit 20 maintains a list of the statutory maximum hourly rates authorized by the EAJA, adjusted for 21 increases in the cost of living, on its website. See Thangaraja v. Gonzales, 428 F.3d 870, 876- 22 77 (9th Cir. 2005). Even assuming Plaintiff’s counsel seeks the most recent published maximum 23 rate,2 the requested award would amount to approximately 35 hours of attorney time (not 24 accounting for any paralegal time expended). The Court finds this reasonable and commensurate 25 with the number of hours an attorney would need to have spent reviewing the certified 26 administrative record in this case (approximately 2,229 pages; Doc. 10) and preparing a motion

27 2 Statutory Maximum Rates Under the Equal Access to Justice, available at https://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/attorneys/statutory-maximum-rates/ (last visited November 27, 1 | for summary judgment that includes 17 pages of argument. (Doc. 11 at 6-23). With respect to 2 | the results obtained, Plaintiffs counsel obtained a favorable judgment remanding the case for 3 | further proceedings. (Docs. 17, 18). 4 EAJA fees, expenses, and costs are subject to any offsets allowed under the Treasury Offset 5 | Program (“TOP”), as discussed in Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586 (2010). If the Commissioner 6 | determines upon effectuation of this order that Plaintiff's EAJA fees are not subject to any offset 7 | allowed under the TOP, the fees shall be delivered or otherwise transmitted to Plaintiffs counsel. 8 Accordingly, it is HEREBY ORDERED: 9 1. Plaintiff's stipulated request for attorney’s fees pursuant to the EAJA (Doc. 19) is 10 GRANTED; and 11 2. The Commissioner is directed to pay to Plaintiff as the prevailing party attorney’s fees in 12 the amount of $8,500.00, pursuant to the terms set forth in the parties’ stipulation. (Doc. 13 19). Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury 14 determines that Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause the 15 payment of fees, expenses, and costs to be made directly to Plaintiff's counsel, as set forth 16 in the stipulation. 17 IS SO ORDERED. Dated: _ November 27, 2024 | br Pr 19 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28