Montevaldo v. O'Malley
- 3:23-cv-06260
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 3
In Montevaldo v. Commissioner of Social Security, the court awarded $7,004.96 in attorney fees and $405 in costs.
Shanti Elizbeth Montevaldo, her counsel and law firm, and the Commissioner of Social Security are affected. The order requires payment of $7,004.96 in attorney fees and $405 in costs, subject to the payment and potential federal-debt-offset terms in the stipulation.
What happened
In Shanti Elizbeth Montevaldo v. Commissioner of Social Security, the parties jointly asked the court to approve an agreement awarding Montevaldo attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act and costs.
The agreement provided for $7,004.96 in attorney fees and $405 in costs. The fees would be payable to Montevaldo, with possible direct payment to her law firm if the government found that she owed no federal debt. The agreement did not admit government liability and preserved counsel’s ability to seek separate fees under another Social Security law provision.
The court ordered the Commissioner to pay the agreed fees and costs. The judge’s name is not clearly readable in the opinion text; the order is signed by the court.
The detailed version
- Montevaldo v. O'Malley · No. 3:23-cv-06260
- June 25, 2025
Background
Shanti Elizbeth Montevaldo and the Commissioner of Social Security submitted a joint stipulation concerning attorney fees and costs in this Social Security action. The stipulation sought approval of an award under the Equal Access to Justice Act, a federal law that can authorize attorney-fee awards against the government, and costs under 28 U.S.C. § 1920.
Requested Award and Payment Terms
The parties agreed to an attorney-fee award of $7,004.96 and a cost award of $405. The stipulation stated that the agreement was a compromise of Montevaldo’s fee request and was not an admission of liability by the Commissioner. It also stated that payment would fully release claims for Equal Access to Justice Act fees connected with the action. The fees would be payable to Montevaldo. If the Treasury Department determined that she did not owe a federal debt, the government would make payment directly to Olinsky Law Group under Montevaldo’s assignment. The stipulation preserved counsel’s and the firm’s ability to seek attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the Equal Access to Justice Act’s offset provisions.
Ruling
The court ordered the Commissioner to award Montevaldo $7,004.96 in attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act and $405 in costs under 28 U.S.C. § 1920. The opinion text does not clearly identify the judge’s full name because the signature is difficult to read.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.