(SS) (CONSENT) Valeika v. Commissioner of Social Security ( 2020 )

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 Shelly Rae Valeika 7 8 9 10 11 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 12 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 13 14 SHELLY RAE VALEIKA, ) No.: 2:19-cv-01042-DB ) 15 Plaintiff, ) STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR ) THE AWARD AND PAYMENT OF 16 vs. ) ATTORNEY FEES AND EXPENSES ) PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL 17 ANDREW SAUL, ) ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. Commissioner of Social Security, ) § 2412(d) AND COSTS PURSUANT 18 ) TO 28 U.S.C. § 1920 Defendant. ) 19 ) ) 20 21 TO THE HONORABLE DEBORAH BARNES, MAGISTRATE JUDGE 22 OF THE DISTRICT COURT: 23 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED, by and between the parties through their 24 undersigned counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Shelly Rae Valeika 25 be awarded attorney fees in the amount of three thousand three hundred dollars 26 ($3,300.00) under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). 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 Valeika, the government 5 will consider the matter of Valeika's assignment of EAJA fees to Young Cho. The 6 retainer agreement containing the assignment is attached as exhibit 1. Pursuant to 7 Astrue v. Ratliff, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 2529 (2010), the ability to honor the assignment 8 will depend on whether the fees are subject to any offset allowed under the United 9 States Department of the Treasury's Offset Program. After the order for EAJA fees 10 is entered, the government will determine whether they are subject to any offset. 11 Fees shall be made payable to Valeika, but if the Department of the 12 Treasury determines that Valeika does not owe a federal debt, then the government 13 shall cause the payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made directly to Law 14 Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, pursuant to the assignment executed by Valeika.1 15 Any payments made shall be delivered to Young Cho. 16 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Valeika's request for 17 EAJA attorney fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of 18 Defendant under the EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall 19 constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any and all claims that Valeika 20 and/or Young Cho including Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing may have 21 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 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: March 23, 2020 Respectfully submitted, 5 LAW OFFICES OF LAWRENCE D. ROHLFING 6 /s/ Young Cho BY: __________________ 7 Young Cho Attorney for plaintiff Shelly Rae Valeika 8 9 DATED: March 23, 2020 McGREGOR W. SCOTT United States Attorney 10 11 /s/ Marcelo N. Illarmo 12 MARCELO N. ILLARMO 13 Special Assistant United States Attorney Attorneys for Defendant 14 ANDREW 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: March 24, 2020 /s/ DEBORAH BARNES 21 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 22 23 24 25 26