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

1 FORSLUND LAW, LLC Jacqueline A. Forslund # 154575 2 P.O. Box 4476 Sunriver, OR 97707 3 Telephone: 541-419-0074 4 Fax: 541-593-4452 Email: jaf@forslundlaw.com 5 Attorney for Plaintiff 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 8 KEVIN LAINE MCCASKILL, ) Case No. 1:18-CV-01069-LJO-SAB 9 ) 10 Plaintiff ) ORDER RE STIPULATION FOR ) AWARD OF ATTORNEY’S FEES 11 v. ) UNDER THE EQUAL ACCESS TO ) JUSTICE ACT (EAJA) 12 ANDREW M. SAUL, ) 13 Commissioner of Social Security, ) (ECF No. 36) ) 14 Defendant ) ) 15 ____________________________________) 16 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their undersigned counsel, 17 subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff shall be awarded attorney’s fees under the Equal 18 Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. sec. 2412(d), in the amount of FOUR THOUSAND EIGHT 19 HUNDRED dollars and ZERO cents ($4,800.00). This amount represents compensation for all legal 20 services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action, in accordance 21 with 28 U.S.C. sec. 2412(d). After the Court issues an order for payment of EAJA fees and expenses to Plaintiff, the 22 government will consider the matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees and expenses to 23 Plaintiff’s attorney. The government’s ability to honor the assignment will depend on whether the 24 fees and expenses are subject to an offset allowed under the United States Department of the 25 Treasury’s Offset Program pursuant to Astrue v. Ratcliff, 130 S.Ct. 2521 (2010). After the order of 26 EAJA fees and expenses is entered, the government will determine if they are subject to an offset. If 27 it is determined that Plaintiff’s EAJA fees and expenses are not subject to an offset under Astrue v. 28 Ratcliff, 130 S.Ct. 2521 (2010) and the Department of Treasury’s Offset Program, then the check for 1 EAJA fees and expenses shall be made payable to Jacqueline A. Forslund, based upon Plaintiff’s 2 assignment of these amounts to Plaintiff’s attorney. The parties agree that whether these checks are made payable to Plaintiff or Jacqueline A. Forslund, such checks shall be mailed to Plaintiff’s 3 attorney at the following address: Jacqueline A. Forslund, Forslund Law LLC, P.O. Box 4476, 4 Sunriver, Oregon 97707. This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request 5 for EAJA attorney fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant 6 under the EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall constitute a complete release from, 7 and bar to, any and all claims that Plaintiff and/or Plaintiff’s Counsel may have relating to EAJA 8 attorney fees in connection with this action. 9 10 Respectfully submitted, 11 Date: October 10, 2019 JACQUELINE A. FORSLUND Attorney at Law 12 13 /s/Jacqueline A. Forslund 14 JACQUELINE A. FORSLUND Attorney for Plaintiff 15 16 Date: October 11, 2019 MCGREGOR W. SCOTT United States Attorney 17 DEBORAH STACHEL Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX 18 Social Security Administration 19 /s/Jeffery Chen 20 JEFFERY CHEN Special Assistant United States Attorney 21 *By email authorization Attorney for Defendant 22 23 / / / 24 / / / 25 / / / 26 / / / 27 / / / 28 1 ORDER 2 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that fees and expenses in the amount of four thousand eight 3 hundred dollars ($4,800.00) as authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 2412 are awarded subject to the terms of the 4 stipulation. 5 6 IT IS SO ORDERED. 7 Dated: October 15, 2019 /s/ Lawrence J. O’Neill _____ UNITED STATES CHIEF DISTRICT JUDGE 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28