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

1 Lawrence D. Rohlfing Attorney at Law: 119433 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 Renee Carson 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 SHELLY RENEE CARSON, ) Case No.: 1:20-cv-01416-SKO 11 ) STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR Plaintiff, ) 12 THE AWARD AND PAYMENT OF v. ) ATTORNEY FEES AND EXPENSES 13 ) PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ANDREW SAUL, ) 14 ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. Commissioner of Social Security, ) § 2412(d) AND COSTS PURSUANT 15 ) TO 28 U.S.C. § 1920 Defendant. ) 16 ) (Doc. 18) ) 17 ) 18 19 TO SHEILA K. OBERTO, MAGISTRATE JUDGE OF THE DISTRICT 20 COURT: 21 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their 22 undersigned counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Shelly Renee 23 Carson be awarded attorney fees and expenses in the amount of one thousand 24 seven hundred dollars ($1,700.00) under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 25 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), and costs in the amount of four hundred dollars ($400.00) 26 under 28 U.S.C. § 1920. This amount represents compensation for all legal 1 services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil 2 action, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920; 2412(d). 3 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Shelly Renee Carson, the 4 government will consider the matter of Shelly Renee Carson's assignment of EAJA 5 fees to Lawrence D. Rohlfing. The retainer agreement containing the assignment 6 is attached as exhibit 1. Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 2529 (2010), 7 the ability to honor the assignment will depend on whether the fees are subject to 8 any offset allowed under the United States Department of the Treasury's Offset 9 Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine 10 whether they are subject to any offset. 11 Fees shall be made payable to Shelly Renee Carson, but if the Department 12 of the Treasury determines that Shelly Renee Carson does not owe a federal debt, 13 then the government shall cause the payment of fees, expenses and costs to be 14 made directly to Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, pursuant to the assignment 15 executed by Shelly Renee Carson.1 Any payments made shall be delivered to 16 Lawrence D. Rohlfing. 17 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Shelly Renee 18 Carson's request for EAJA attorney fees, and does not constitute an admission of 19 liability on the part of Defendant under the EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the 20 agreed amount shall constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any and all 21 claims that Shelly Renee Carson and/or Lawrence D. Rohlfing including Law 22 Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in 23 connection with this action. 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 Lawrence D. Rohlfing and/or 2 the 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: June 28, 2021 Respectfully submitted, 5 LAW OFFICES OF LAWRENCE D. ROHLFING 6 /s/ Lawrence D. Rohlfing BY: __________________ 7 Lawrence D. Rohlfing Attorney for plaintiff Shelly Renee Carson 8 9 DATED: June 29, 2021 PHILLIP TALBERT Acting United States Attorney 10 11 /s/ Daniel P. Talbert 12 DANIEL P. TALBERT 13 Special Assistant United States Attorney Attorneys for Defendant ANDREW SAUL, 14 Commissioner of Social Security (Per e-mail authorization) 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 1 ORDER 2 Based upon the parties’ above “Stipulation for the Award and Payment of 3 Attorney Fees and Expenses Pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. 4 § 2412(d) and Costs Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1920” (the “Stipulation”) (Doc. 18), 5 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that attorney fees and expenses in the amount 6 of one thousand seven hundred dollars ($1,700.00) under the Equal Access to Justice 7 Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), and costs in the amount of four hundred dollars 8 ($400.00) under 28 U.S.C. § 1920 be awarded subject to the terms of the Stipulation. 9 10 IT IS SO ORDERED. 11 Dated: July 1, 2021 /s/ Sheila K. Oberto . 12 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26