Description: Fresno, California social security disability lawyer represented Plaintiff seeking review of the denial of her application for benefits by HHS.


he parties stipulate through counsel that Defendant, the Commissioner of Social Security (the “Commissioner”), shall have an extension of time to file her opposition to Plaintiff's opening brief in this case. In support of this request, the Commissioner respectfully states as follows:

1. Primary responsibility for handling this case has been delegated to the Office of the Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX, in San Francisco, California (the “Region IX Office”).

2. Defendant's response to Plaintiff's opening brief is currently due June 10, 2022.

Defendant has not previously requested an extension of time for this deadline.

3. The Region IX Office currently handles all district and circuit court litigation
involving the Social Security program arising in Arizona, California, Hawai'i, Nevada, and Guam.

4. The Region IX Office employs 43 staff attorneys, of whom 29 are actively handling civil litigation involving the Social Security program in the eight assigned jurisdictions. Most of the attorneys who handle program litigation cases have additional responsibilities, such as litigating in other practice areas described below, acting as Jurisdictional leads, reviewing the work product of junior attorneys, conducting trainings, and participating in national workgroups. In addition, because of attorneys taking unexpected leave or resigning, the Region IX Office has had to re-assign dozens of cases and substitute in new counsel who have had to absorb these reassigned cases into their existing caseloads.

5. In addition to this “program” litigation, the 29 staff attorneys in the Region IX Office maintain other workload responsibilities, with most of them dedicating 40 percent or more of their time to these workloads. The Region IX Office provides a full range of legal services as counsel for the Social Security Administration, in a region that covers four states (including the most populous state in the nation) and three territories. These other workloads include employment litigation; civil rights investigations; bankruptcy matters; and requests for legal advice on wide-ranging topics, including employee conduct and performance, reasonable accommodation, hostile work environment, ethics, Privacy Act and disclosure, torts, property, and contracts.

7. The undersigned attorney has 10 briefs due in district court cases over the next thirty days and has to prioritize cases with deadlines that have already been extended. Additionally, for the month of July, she expects to have 11 briefs due in district court. Due to the high number of briefs due each month, the undersigned has had to seek multiple extensions of 60 days each in order to manage her workload.

8. Due to the volume of the overall workload within the Region IX Office, neither the
undersigned attorney nor another attorney in the Region IX Office anticipate being able to complete briefing by the current due date of June 10, 2022. Therefore, Defendant seeks an extension of 60 days, until August 9, 2022 to respond to Plaintiff's opening brief. Stip. for Ext. 20-CV-1112-DAD-BAM 2 9. This request is made in good faith and is not intended to delay the proceedings in this matter.
Hernandez v. Kijakazi (E.D. Cal. 2022)

Outcome: "Pursuant to stipulation, and good cause appearing, the Commissioner's request for an extension of time to file her opposition to Plaintiff's opening brief is GRANTED. The Commissioner shall file her opposition on or before August 9, 2022. All other deadlines in the Court's Scheduling Order are modified accordingly." Hernandez v. Kijakazi (E.D. Cal. 2022)

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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