Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 CHRISTINE D.,1 Case No.: 25-cv-0614-SBC 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING JOINT 13 v. MOTION FOR THE AWARD AND PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES 14 FRANK BISIGNANO, Commissioner of AND EXPENSES PURSUANT TO the Social Security Administration,2 15 THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE Defendant. ACT, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) AND COSTS 16 PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920; 17 2412 18 [Dkt. No. 17] 19 Before the Court is the parties’ May 4, 2026, Joint Motion for the Award and 20 Payment of Attorney Fees and Expenses Pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 21 U.S.C. § 2412(d) and Costs Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920; 2412 (hereafter “Joint Motion”) 22 (Dkt. No. 17). Good cause appearing, and for the reasons stated below, the Joint Motion is 23 GRANTED. 24 25 26 1 The Court refers to Plaintiff using only her first name and last initial pursuant to the 27 Court's Civil Local Rules. See S.D. Cal. Civ. R. 7.1(e)(6)(b). 2 Frank Bisignano is now the Commissioner of Social Security and is automatically 28 1 On March 14, 2025, Plaintiff initiated this action against Defendant Commissioner 2 of Social Security for judicial review under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) of a final adverse decision 3 for social security disability benefits. (Dkt. No. 1.) On March 19, 2025, the parties 4 consented to Magistrate Judge jurisdiction over the case. (Dkt. No. 6.) On March 26, 2026, 5 the Court resolved the parties’ joint motion for judicial review in favor of Plaintiff and 6 remanded this case for further administrative proceedings. (Dkt. No. 15.) 7 In the motion presently before the Court, the parties seek $7,700.00 in attorney’s 8 fees and no costs. (Dkt. No. 17.) The Plaintiff agreed to pay counsel “25% of the past due 9 benefits awarded upon reversal of any unfavorable ALJ decision for work before the Social 10 Security Administration” based on a representation agreement, dated April 5, 2024. (Dkt. 11 No. 17-1.) 12 The EAJA allows a prevailing party to seek attorney’s fees from the United States 13 within thirty days of final judgment. 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). “A sentence four remand 14 becomes a final judgment, for purposes of attorneys’ fees claims brought pursuant to the 15 EAJA, 28 U.S.C. § 2412 (d), upon expiration of the time for appeal.” Akopyan v. Barnhart, 16 296 F.3d 852, 854 (9th Cir. 2002). If one of the parties is the United States, either party 17 may file a notice of appeal within sixty days of the order appealed from. See Fed. R. App. 18 P. 4(a)(1)(B). “A plaintiff who obtains a sentence four remand is considered a prevailing 19 party for purposes of attorney’s fees.” Akopyan, 296 F.3d at 854. 20 EAJA fees are calculated based on actual time expended at statutory hourly rates, 21 requiring “an itemized statement from any attorney or expert witness representing or 22 appearing in behalf of the party stating the actual time expended and the rate at which fees 23 and other expenses were computed.” 28 U.S.C § 2412(d)(1)(B). Such an itemized 24 statement is provided by Plaintiff’s attorney. (Dkt. No. 17-2.) 25 The Court finds that Plaintiff is the prevailing party in this action for purposes of 26 attorney’s fees, the parties’ joint motion is timely, and the stipulated amount of fees and 27 expenses reasonable. Therefore, the Court GRANTS the Joint Motion and awards Plaintiff 28 attorney’s fees in the total amount of $7,700.00 as authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 2412 and no | |}costs as authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 1920, subject to the terms of the parties’ joint motion. 2 Dkt. No. 17.) Fees will be made payable to Christine D., but if the Department of the 3 || Treasury determines that Christine D. does not owe a federal debt, then the government 4 || will cause the payment of fees, expenses, and costs to be made directly to Steven G. Rosales 5 || and/or the Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, Inc., CPC. 6 IT IS SO ORDERED. 7 ||Dated: June 15, 2026 8 GF □□ 10 Hon. SteveB.Chu United States Magistrate Judge 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28