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

1 Laura E. Krank Attorney at Law: 220208 2 Law Offices of Rohlfing & Kalagian, LLP 211 East Ocean Boulevard, Suite 420 3 Long Beach, CA 90802 Tel.: (562) 437-7006 4 Fax: (562) 432-2935 E-mail: rohlfing.kalagian@rksslaw.com 5 Attorneys for Plaintiff 6 Robert Allen Gordon 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 ROBERT ALLEN GORDON, ) Case No.: 2:18-cv-01781-DMC 11 ) Plaintiff, ) STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR 12 ) THE AWARD AND PAYMENT OF vs. ) ATTORNEY FEES AND EXPENSES 13 ) PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ANDREW SAUL, ) ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. 14 Commissioner of Social Security, ) § 2412(d) AND COSTS PURSUANT ) TO 28 U.S.C. § 1920 15 Defendant. ) ) 16 ) 17 TO THE HONORABLE DENNIS M. COTA, MAGISTRATE JUDGE OF 18 THE DISTRICT COURT: 19 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED, by and between the parties through their 20 undersigned counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Robert Allen 21 Gordon be awarded attorney fees in the amount of Four Thousand, Four Hundred 22 dollars ($4,400.00) under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 23 2412(d). This amount represents compensation for all legal services rendered on 24 behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action, in accordance 25 with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920; 2412(d). 26 1 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Robert Allen Gordon, the 2 government will consider the matter of Robert Allen Gordon's assignment of EAJA 3 fees to Laura E. Krank. The retainer agreement containing the assignment is 4 attached as exhibit 1. Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 2529 (2010), 5 the ability to honor the assignment will depend on whether the fees are subject to 6 any offset allowed under the United States Department of the Treasury's Offset 7 Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine 8 whether they are subject to any offset. 9 Fees shall be made payable to Robert Allen Gordon, but if the Department 10 of the Treasury determines that Robert Allen Gordon does not owe a federal debt, 11 then the government shall cause the payment of fees, expenses and costs to be 12 made directly to Law Offices of Rohlfing & Kalagian, LLP, pursuant to the 13 assignment executed by Robert Allen Gordon.1 Any payments made shall be 14 delivered to Laura E. Krank. 15 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Robert Allen 16 Gordon's request for EAJA attorney fees, and does not constitute an admission of 17 liability on the part of Defendant under the EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the 18 agreed amount shall constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any and all 19 claims that Robert Allen Gordon and/or Laura E. Krank including Law Offices of 20 Rohlfing & Kalagian, LLP may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection 21 with this action. 22 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Laura E. Krank and/or the 23 Law Offices of Rohlfing & Kalagian, LLP to seek Social Security Act attorney 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 1 || fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause provisions of the 2 || EAJA. 3 || DATE: September 5, 2019 Respectfully submitted, 4 ROHLFING & KALAGIAN, LLP 5 /s/ Laua E. Krank BY: 6 Laura E. Krank 7 Attorney for plaintiff Robert Allen Gordon 8 || DATED: September 5, 2019 MCGREGOR W. SCOTT 9 United States Attorney 10 /S/ Micha K. Marriott 11 MICHAEL K. MARRIOTT 12 Special Assistant United States Attorney Attorneys for Defendant 13 ANDREW M. SAUL, Commissioner of Social Security (Per e-mail authorization) 14 15 16 17 ORDER 18 Approved and so ordered: 19 Dated: September 6, 2019 20 DENNIS M. COTA 21 U. S. MAGISTRATE JUDGE 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