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

1 Marc V. Kalagian Attorney at Law: 149034 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 Eena Saesee 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 EENA SAESEE, ) Case No.: 1:18-cv-01417-SKO 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. ) ) (Doc. 17) 16 ) 17 TO THE HONORABLE SHEILA K. OBERTO, MAGISTRATE JUDGE 18 OF 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 Eena Saesee be 21 awarded attorney fees in the amount of Three Thousand Six Hundred dollars 22 ($3,600.00) and costs in the amount of Four Hundred Fifteen dollars ($415.00) 23 under 28 U.S.C. § 1920. This amount represents compensation for all legal 24 services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil 25 action, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920; 2412(d). 26 1 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Eena Saesee, the 2 government will consider the matter of Eena Saesee's assignment of EAJA fees to 3 Marc V. Kalagian. The retainer agreement containing the assignment is attached 4 as exhibit 1. Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 2529 (2010), the ability 5 to honor the assignment will depend on whether the fees are subject to any offset 6 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 Eena Saesee, but if the Department of the 10 Treasury determines that Eena Saesee does not owe a federal debt, then the 11 government shall cause the payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made 12 directly to Law Offices of Rohlfing & Kalagian, LLP, pursuant to the assignment 13 executed by Eena Saesee.1 Any payments made shall be delivered to Marc V. 14 Kalagian. 15 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Eena Saesee's 16 request for EAJA attorney fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on 17 the part of Defendant under the EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount 18 shall constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any and all claims that Eena 19 Saesee and/or Marc V. Kalagian including Law Offices of Rohlfing & Kalagian, 20 LLP may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection with this action. 21 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Marc V. Kalagian and/or the 22 Law Offices of Rohlfing & Kalagian, LLP to seek Social Security Act attorney 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 1 fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause provisions of the 2 EAJA. 3 DATE: September 9, 2019 Respectfully submitted, 4 ROHLFING & KALAGIAN, LLP 5 /s/ Marc V. Kalagian BY: __________________ 6 Marc V. Kalagian Attorney for plaintiff Eena Saesee 7 8 DATED: September 9, 2019 MCGREGOR W. SCOTT United States Attorney 9 10 /s/ Ellinor Coder 11 ELLINOR CODER 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 Based upon the parties’ above “Stipulation for the Award and Payment of 19 Attorney Fees and Expenses Pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. 20 §2412(d) and Costs Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1920” (the “Stipulation”) (Doc. 17), 21 attorney’s fees in the amount of THREE THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED dollars 22 ($3,600.00) under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), and 23 // 24 // 25 // 26 // 1 costs in the amount of FOUR HUNDRED FIFTEEN dollars ($415.00) under 28 2 U.S.C. § 1920, shall be awarded, subject to the terms of the Stipulation. 3 4 IT IS SO ORDERED. 5 Dated: September 10, 2019 /s/ Sheila K. Oberto . 6 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 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