Abalos v. O'Malley

Background

Roberto Abalos sued Carolyn Colvin, identified in the caption as Acting Commissioner of Social Security. The opinion text provided is a stipulation and proposed order concerning attorney fees, along with Abalos’s affidavit assigning any Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) fee award to his attorney, Kevin LaPorte.

The parties stipulated that the government would pay $7,500 under EAJA, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), for attorney fees, including costs, incurred in the district-court action. The stipulation stated that the payment represented compensation for all legal services provided by counsel in the action.

Fee assignment and settlement terms

Abalos stated that his net worth was less than $2 million when the action began and assigned any EAJA fee entitlement to LaPorte. He asked that the award be made payable to LaPorte rather than to him.

The stipulation stated that, after the fee order, the government would determine whether the award was subject to an offset under the Treasury Department’s Offset Program. If the Treasury Department determined that Abalos did not owe a federal debt, the check was to be payable to LaPorte. The stipulation also stated that the settlement was not an admission of liability or fault and that the $7,500 payment would fully resolve EAJA fee claims related to the action.

Ruling

The court ordered that Abalos be awarded $7,500 in attorney fees under 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), subject to the terms of the stipulation. The text does not decide the underlying Social Security dispute or describe the result of that dispute. The judge’s signature is not clearly readable; the opinion identifies the signer only as a United States Magistrate Judge.