Watkins v. Kijakazi
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- Barbara Lynn Major (author)
Analysis
The parties filed a joint motion for attorney's fees and costs following a sentence four remand in a Social Security disability case. The court granted the motion, awarding the plaintiff $4,000 in fees and $400 in costs.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Grant of joint motion for attorney's fees and expenses“Accordingly, the Court GRANTS the joint motion and AWARDS Plaintiff $4,000.00 in attorney’s fees and expenses pursuant to the EAJA” | agree with court The court correctly identified the plaintiff as a prevailing party under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) following a sentence four remand, citing Ninth Circuit precedent. The court accepted the parties' stipulation that the amount was reasonable, which is a standard procedural practice in such cases. |
Award of costs“and $400.00 in costs under 28 U.S.C. § 1920” | agree with court The award of costs is based on the parties' stipulation and 28 U.S.C. § 1920, which allows for the recovery of specific costs. The court's decision to award the stipulated amount is consistent with the statute and the parties' agreement. |
The order itself: sound — The order is procedurally correct and relies on the appropriate binding authority (Akopyan) to establish the plaintiff's status as a prevailing party and the timeliness of the fee application. The court properly adopted the parties' stipulation regarding the reasonableness of the fees.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 Case No.: 21-cv-0101-BLM 11 GERMANY TERRELL WATKINS, 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION FOR THE AWARD AND PAYMENT OF 13 v. ATTORNEY FEES AND EXPENSES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO 14 KILOLO KIJAKAZI, Commissioner of Social JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) AND Security, 15 COSTS PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § 1920 Defendant. 16 [ECF No. 25] 17 18 On January 19, 2021, Plaintiff Germany Terrell Watkins filed a civil complaint against 19 Defendant Commissioner of Social Security, Kilolo Kijakazi, seeking judicial review of the denial 20 of his application for social security disability and supplemental security income benefits. ECF 21 No. 1. On February 14, 2022, the parties filed a joint motion for voluntary remand pursuant to 22 sentence four of 42 U.S.C. §405(g) [ECF No. 22], which the Court granted. ECF No. 23. The 23 parties now stipulate to an award to Plaintiff of attorney’s fees and expenses in the amount of 24 $4,000.00 under the Equal Access to Justice Act (“EAJA”), 28 U.S.C. 2412(d), and costs in the 25 amount of $400.00 under 28 U.S.C. § 1920. ECF No. 25. 26 The EAJA allows a prevailing party to seek attorney’s fees from the United States within 27 thirty days of final judgment. 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). “A sentence four remand becomes a final 28 judgment, for purposes of attorneys’ fees claims brought pursuant to the EAJA, 28 U.S.C. § 1 || 2412(d), upon expiration of the time for appeal.” Akopyan v. Barnhart, 296 F.3d 852, 854 (9th 2 ||Cir. 2002). If one of the parties is the United States, either party may file a notice of appeal 3 || within sixty days of the order appealed from. See Fed. R. App. 4(a)(1)(B). “A plaintiff who 4 || obtains a sentence four remand is considered a prevailing party for attorney's fees.” Akopyan, 5 || 296 F.3d at 854. Plaintiff is the prevailing party in this action for purposes of attorney's fees, 6 || the parties’ joint motion is timely, and the Court finds the stipulated amount of fees and expenses 7 || reasonable. 8 Accordingly, the Court GRANTS the joint motion and AWARDS Plaintiff $4,000.00 in 9 || attorney’s fees and expenses pursuant to the EAJA and $400.00 in costs under 28 U.S.C. § 1920, 10 || for the total amount of $4,400.00, subject to the terms of the parties’ joint motion. Fees will be 11 ||made payable to Germany Terrell Watkins, but if the Department of the Treasury determines 12 || that Germany Terrell Watkins does not owe a federal debt, then the government will cause the 13 || payment of fees, expenses, and costs to be made directly to the Law Offices of Lawrence D. 14 || Rohlfing Inc., CPC, pursuant to the assignment executed by Germany Terrell Watkins. Any 15 || payments will be delivered to Plaintiff's counsel. 16 IT IS SO ORDERED. 17 ||Dated: 4/12/2022 iy, be He wr 18 Hon. Barbara L. Major 19 United States Maqistrate Judde 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28