Ivok v. Kijakazi
- Cisneros
- 3:22-cv-05813
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 4
In Ivok v. Kijakazi, Judge Cisneros approved $7,400 in attorney fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act.
Stephanie Ivok and her attorney, Francesco P. Benavides, are affected by the $7,400 fee award and its payment terms; the government must process payment subject to any permitted federal-debt offset.
What happened
In Ivok v. Kijakazi, Stephanie Ivok and the government jointly asked the court to approve an award of attorney fees and expenses for the legal work performed in the case.
The court ordered that Ivok receive $7,400 under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The award is subject to the parties’ agreement, including possible government debt offsets and payment directly to Ivok’s attorney if permitted. The agreement does not admit government liability and does not prevent the attorney from seeking certain separate Social Security Act fees.
Judge Lisa J. Cisneros entered the order on April 7, 2023.
The detailed version
- Ivok v. Kijakazi · No. 3:22-cv-05813
- Cisneros
- Apr. 7, 2023
Background
Stephanie Ivok and the government submitted a stipulation asking the court to award $7,400 in attorney fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). The stipulated amount covered all legal services performed by Ivok’s attorney, Francesco P. Benavides, in connection with the civil action.
Terms of the Award
The agreement stated that the fees would be payable to Ivok. After the award, the government would determine whether the fees were subject to an offset for any federal debt owed by Ivok. If the Treasury Department found that Ivok did not owe a federal debt, the government would pay the fees, expenses, and costs directly to Benavides under Ivok’s assignment of the award.
The parties described the agreement as a compromise settlement. Payment would release and bar claims relating to Equal Access to Justice Act fees in this action. The award did not prevent Benavides from seeking attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the Equal Access to Justice Act’s requirements concerning any overlapping fee recovery.
Ruling
Judge Lisa J. Cisneros ordered that $7,400 in fees and expenses be awarded under 28 U.S.C. § 2412, subject to the terms of the stipulation. This was a fee award and did not decide the underlying Social Security dispute.
Classification
This is a procedural order because it concerned attorney fees, an issue ancillary to the underlying merits.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.