(SS) Bradbury v. Commissioner of Social Security, 2:22-cv-01621

Emily Anne Bradbury filed a civil action in the Eastern District of California seeking review of an administrative decision by the Social Security Administration.
The suit was brought against the Commissioner of Social Security, with Martin O’Malley substituted as the new Commissioner per Rule 25(d) Fed. R. Civ. P.
The parties reached a stipulated agreement regarding an award of attorney's fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d).
The stipulated attorneys' fees amount was $7,374.24; no additional costs were requested under 28 U.S.C. § 1920.
The stipulation provided that payment would be subject to any offset for federal debts and addressed direct payment to counsel if applicable.
The court approved the stipulation and issued an order awarding the agreed-upon fees.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Entitlement to EAJA fees	Bradbury requests fees for legal services under EAJA	O’Malley agrees to stipulated compromise amount, no admission of liability	Fees and expenses awarded as stipulated
Payment of Fees to Counsel	Assignment of fees to attorney should be honored	Payment subject to debt offset; honored if no debt	Fees payable to counsel if no federal debt
Release of Further Claims	Complete release for EAJA fee claim upon payment	Bar to future EAJA fee claims in this action	Payment is full and final as to EAJA fees
Preservation of Right to Seek § 406(b) Fees	Can still petition for SSA fees under § 406(b)	No objection; rights preserved	Right to seek § 406(b) fees preserved

Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586 (2010) (establishes that EAJA fee awards are subject to federal debt offsets and are payable to the litigant, not directly to the attorney)