Rashaad v. Saul
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- Michael M. Anello (author)
Analysis
The court considered a joint motion by the parties for an award of attorneys' fees and costs following a remand of a social security disability case. The court granted the motion, awarding the plaintiff $5,700.00 in fees and $400.00 in costs.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Grant of joint motion for attorneys' fees and costs“Accordingly, the Court GRANTS the joint motion and AWARDS Plaintiff fees expenses in the total amount of $5,700.00 and costs in the total amount of $400.00.” | agree with court The court correctly identifies the plaintiff as a prevailing party under the EAJA following a sentence four remand, cites the correct Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit authorities regarding finality and prevailing party status, and notes the parties' stipulation to the amount. The decision follows from the law and the record recited in the order. |
The order itself: sound — The order correctly applies the EAJA standard for prevailing party status in social security cases, citing binding Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit precedent. It properly notes the timeliness of the motion and the reasonableness of the stipulated amount. The reasoning is complete and directly answers the motion.
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