(SS) Ray 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 Carol A. Ray 7 8 9 10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 11 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 12 13 CAROL A. RAY, ) No. 2:18-cv-00561-DB ) 14 Plaintiff, ) STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR ) THE AWARD AND PAYMENT OF 15 vs. ) ATTORNEY FEES AND EXPENSES ) PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL 16 ANDREW SAUL, ) ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. ) § 2412(d) AND COSTS PURSUANT 17 Commissioner of Social Security, ) TO 28 U.S.C. § 1920 ) 18 Defendant. ) ) 19 20 TO THE HONORABLE DEBORAH BARNES, MAGISTRATE JUDGE 21 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 Carol A Ray be 24 awarded attorney fees in the amount of four thousand three hundred dollars 25 ($4,300.00) under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), 26 and costs in the amount of four hundred dollars ($400.00) under 28 U.S.C. § 1920. 1 This amount represents compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of 2 Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action, in accordance with 28 3 U.S.C. §§ 1920; 2412(d). 4 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Carol A Ray, the 5 government will consider the matter of Carol A Ray's assignment of EAJA fees to 6 Young Cho. The retainer agreement containing the assignment is attached as 7 exhibit 1. Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 2529 (2010), the ability to 8 honor the assignment will depend on whether the fees are subject to any offset 9 allowed under the United States Department of the Treasury's Offset Program. 10 After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine whether 11 they are subject to any offset. 12 Fees shall be made payable to Carol A Ray, but if the Department of the 13 Treasury determines that Carol A Ray does not owe a federal debt, then the 14 government shall cause the payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made 15 directly to Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, pursuant to the assignment 16 executed by Carol A Ray.1 Any payments made shall be delivered to Young Cho. 17 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Carol A Ray's 18 request for EAJA attorney fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on 19 the part of Defendant under the EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount 20 shall constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any and all claims that Carol A 21 Ray and/or Young Cho including Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing may have 22 relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection with this action. 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 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: September 25, 2019 Respectfully submitted, 5 LAW OFFICES OF LAWRENCE D. ROHLFING 6 /s/ Young Cho BY: __________________ 7 Young Cho Attorney for plaintiff Carol A Ray 8 9 DATE: September 25, 2019 MCGREGOR W. SCOTT United States Attorney 10 11 /s/ Ben A. Porter 12 BEN A. PORTER 13 Special Assistant United States Attorney Attorneys for Defendant 14 ANDREW M. SAUL, Commissioner of Social Security (Per e-mail authorization) 15 16 17 18 ORDER 19 Pursuant to the parties’ stipulation, IT IS SO ORDERED. 20 DATED: September 26, 2019 /s/ DEBORAH BARNES UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 21 22 23 24 25 26