French v. Kijakazi
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- Barbara Lynn Major (author)
Analysis
The court considered a joint motion by the plaintiff and defendant for the award of attorney's fees and costs following the plaintiff's victory on summary judgment in a Social Security disability case. The court granted the motion, awarding the plaintiff $4,660.00 in fees and $402.00 in costs.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Granting the Joint Motion for the Award and Payment of Attorney Fees and Expenses Pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act and Costs“the Court GRANTS the joint motion and AWARDS Plaintiff attorney’s fees and expenses in the total amount of $4,660.00 as authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 2412 and costs the amount of $402.00 as authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 1920” | agree with court The court correctly identifies the plaintiff as a prevailing party under the EAJA following a sentence four remand. The court relies on the parties' stipulation regarding the reasonableness of the fees, which is a standard and acceptable method for resolving fee petitions in this context. The award follows logically from the statutory authority and the procedural posture. |
The order itself: sound — The order is procedurally sound. It correctly applies the Ninth Circuit precedent regarding 'prevailing party' status in Social Security cases involving sentence four remands. It relies on the parties' joint stipulation to determine the reasonableness of the fees, which is appropriate and avoids the need for a detailed lodestar analysis in a consensual setting. The calculation of the final judgment date based on the appeal period is accurate.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 11 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 12 Case No.: 21-cv-0092-BLM 13 SIGRID ANDREA FRENCH, 14 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION FOR THE AWARD AND PAYMENT OF 15 v. ATTORNEY FEES AND EXPENSES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO 16 KILOLO KIJAKAZI, Acting Commissioner of JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) AND Social Security, 17 COSTS PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § 1920 Defendant. 18 [ECF NO. 19]
20 On January 15, 2021, Plaintiff filed a complaint in this matter seeking judicial review of 21 the denial of her application “for disability insurance benefits.” ECF No. 1. 22 On August 15, 2022, the Court issued an Order Granting Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary 23 Judgment and Denying Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment. ECF No. 17. 24 On August 25, 2022, the parties filed a Joint Motion for the Award and Payment of 25 Attorney Fees and Expenses Pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) 26 and Costs Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1920. ECF No. 19. 27 The EAJA allows a prevailing party to seek attorney’s fees from the United States within 1 || thirty days of final judgment. 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). “A sentence four remand becomes a final 2 ||judgment, for purposes of attorneys’ fees claims brought pursuant to the EAJA, 28 U.S.C. § 3 || 2412(d), upon expiration of the time for appeal.” Akopyan v. Barnhart, 296 F.3d 852, 854 (9th 4 2002). If one of the parties is the United States, either party may file a notice of appeal 5 || within sixty days of the order appealed from. See Fed. R. App. 4(a)(1)(B). “A plaintiff who 6 || obtains a sentence four remand is considered a prevailing party for attorneys’ fees.” Akopyan, 7 F.3d at 854. Plaintiff is the prevailing party in this action for purposes of attorney’s fees, 8 || the parties’ joint motion is timely, and the Court finds the stipulated amount of fees and expenses 9 || reasonable. 10 Having considered the joint motion and finding the stipulated amount of fees and 11 expenses reasonable, the Court GRANTS the joint motion and AWARDS Plaintiff attorney’s 12 || fees and expenses in the total amount of $4,660.00 as authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 2412 and costs 13 the amount of $402.00 as authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 1920, subject to the terms of the parties’ 14 || joint motion [see ECF No. 19]. Fees will be made payable to Sigrid Andrea French, but if the 15 || Department of the Treasury determines that Sigrid Andrea French does not owe a federal debt, 16 || then the government will cause the payment of fees, expenses, and costs to be made directly 17 the Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, Inc., CPC pursuant to the assignment executed by 18 || Sigrid Andrea French [see ECF No. 19-2]. Any payments will be delivered to Brian C. Shapiro. 19 IT IS SO ORDERED. 20 ||Dated: 8/29/2022 lobe Mager 71 Hon. Barbara L. Major United States Maqistrate Judde 22 23 24 25 26 27 28