(SS) Sousa v. Commissioner of Social Security ( 2021 )

1 Monica Perales Attorney at Law: 297739 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 Carlos Francisco Sousa 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 CARLOS FRANCISCO SOUSA, ) No. 2:19-cv-00779-DB ) 11 Plaintiff, ) STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR ) THE AWARD AND PAYMENT OF 12 vs. ) ATTORNEY FEES AND EXPENSES ) PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL 13 ANDREW SAUL, ) ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. Commissioner of Social Security, ) § 2412(d) AND COSTS PURSUANT 14 ) TO 28 U.S.C. § 1920 Defendant. ) 15 ) ) 16 17 TO THE HONORABLE DEBORAH BARNES, 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 Carlos Francisco 21 Sousa be awarded attorney fees and expenses in the amount of four thousand five 22 hundred dollars ($4,500.00) under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 23 U.S.C. § 2412(d), and no costs under 28 U.S.C. § 1920. This amount represents 24 compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in 25 connection with this civil action, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920; 2412(d). 26 1 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Carlos Francisco Sousa, 2 the government will consider the matter of Carlos Francisco Sousa's assignment of 3 EAJA fees to Monica Perales. 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 Carlos Francisco Sousa, but if the 10 Department of the Treasury determines that Carlos Francisco Sousa does not owe a 11 federal debt, then the government shall cause the payment of fees, expenses and 12 costs to be made directly to Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, pursuant to the 13 assignment executed by Carlos Francisco Sousa.1 Any payments made shall be 14 delivered to Monica Perales. 15 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Carlos Francisco 16 Sousa'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 Carlos Francisco Sousa and/or Monica Perales including Law Offices 20 of Lawrence D. Rohlfing may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection 21 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 Monica Perales and/or the 2 Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing to seek Social Security Act attorney fees 3 under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause provisions of the EAJA. 4 DATE: December 9, 2020 Respectfully submitted, 5 LAW OFFICES OF LAWRENCE D. ROHLFING 6 /s/ Monica Perales BY: __________________ 7 Monica Perales Attorney for plaintiff Carlos Francisco Sousa 8 9 DATED: MCGREGOR W. SCOTT 10 United States Attorney 11 /s/ Tina Naicker 12 13 TINA NAICKER Special Assistant United States Attorney 14 Attorneys for Defendant ANDREW SAUL, Commissioner of Social Security 15 (Per e-mail authorization) 16 17 18 ORDER 19 Pursuant to the parties’ stipulation, IT IS SO ORDERED. 20 DATED: MAY 12, 2021 /s/ DEBORAH BARNES UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 21 22 23 ___________________________________ 24 25 26