(SS)Wells v. Commissioner of Social Security ( 2019 )

1 Young Cho Attorney at Law: 189870 2 Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing 12631 East Imperial Highway, Suite C-115 3 Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670 Tel.: (562) 868-5886 4 Fax: (562) 868-8868 E-mail: rohlfing.office@rohlfinglaw.com 5 Attorneys for Plaintiff 6 Marvin Wells 7 8 9 10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 11 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 12 13 MARVIN WELLS, ) Case No.: 2:18-cv-03046-KJN ) 14 Plaintiff, ) STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR ) THE AWARD AND PAYMENT OF 15 vs. ) ATTORNEY FEES AND EXPENSES ) PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL 16 ANDREW M. SAUL, ) ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. Commissioner of Social Security, ) § 2412(d) AND COSTS PURSUANT 17 ) TO 28 U.S.C. § 1920 Defendant. ) 18 ) ) 19 20 TO THE HONORABLE KENDALL J. NEWMAN, MAGISTRATE 21 JUDGE OF THE DISTRICT COURT: 22 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their 23 undersigned counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Marvin Wells be 24 awarded attorney fees and expenses in the amount of three thousand six hundred 25 dollars ($3,600.00) under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 26 2412(d), and no costs under 28 U.S.C. § 1920. This amount represents 1 compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in 2 connection with this civil action, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920; 2412(d). 3 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Marvin Wells, the 4 government will consider the matter of Marvin Wells's assignment of EAJA fees to 5 Young Cho. The retainer agreement containing the assignment is attached as 6 exhibit 1. Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 2529 (2010), the ability to 7 honor the assignment will depend on whether the fees are subject to any offset 8 allowed under the United States Department of the Treasury's Offset 9 Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine 10 whether they are subject to any offset. 11 Fees shall be made payable to Marvin Wells, but if the Department of the 12 Treasury determines that Marvin Wells does not owe a federal debt, then the 13 government shall cause the payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made 14 directly to Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, pursuant to the assignment 15 executed by Marvin Wells.1 Any payments made shall be delivered to Young Cho. 16 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Marvin Wells's 17 request for EAJA attorney fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on 18 the part of Defendant under the EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount 19 shall constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any and all claims that Marvin 20 Wells and/or Young Cho including Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing may 21 have relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection with this action. 22 23 24 25 1 The parties do not stipulate whether counsel for the plaintiff has a cognizable lien under federal law against the recovery of EAJA fees that survives the Treasury 26 ] This award is without prejudice to the rights of Young Cho and/or the Law 2 || Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing to seek Social Security Act attorney fees under 3 ||42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause provisions of the EAJA. 4 ||DATE: August 27, 2019 Respectfully submitted, 5 LAW OFFICES OF LAWRENCE D. ROHLFING 6 /s/ Youug Che BY: 7 Young Cho 8 Attorney for plaintiff Marvin Wells 9 || DATED: August 27, 2019 McGREGOR W. SCOTT 10 United States Attorney /s/ Manele Tt, Warme 12 MARCELO N. ILLARMO 13 Special Assistant United States Attorney Attorneys for Defendant ANDREW M. SAUL, 14 Commissioner of Social Security (Per e-mail authorization) 15 16 17 ORDER 18 Approved and so ordered: 19 Dated: August 29, 2019 □□□ KENDALL J. LK 1 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 22 23 well.3046 24 25 26 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26