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

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 TERRI LYNN HELTNE, ) Case No. 1:20-CV-00964-SKO 9 ) 10 Plaintiff ) STIPULATION AND ) ORDER FOR AWARD OF ATTORNEY’S 11 v. ) FEES UNDER THE EQUAL ACCESS TO ) JUSTICE ACT (EAJA) 12 KILOLO KIJAKAZI1, ) 13 Acting Commissioner of Social Security, ) (Doc. 20) ) 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 ONE THOUSAND NINE 19 HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SIX dollars and TWENTY-EIGHT cents ($1,956.28). This amount 20 represents compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection 21 with this civil action, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. sec. 2412(d). 22 After the Court issues an order for payment of EAJA fees and expenses to Plaintiff, the 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 27 1 Kilolo Kijakazi became the Acting Commissioner of Social Security on July 9, 2021. Pursuant to Rule 25(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Kilolo Kijakazi should be substituted, therefore, for Andrew Saul as 28 the defendant in this suit. No further action need be taken to continue this suit by reason of the last sentence of section 205(g) of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). 1 EAJA fees and expenses is entered, the government will determine if they are subject to an offset. If 2 it is determined that Plaintiff’s EAJA fees and expenses are not subject to an offset under Astrue v. Ratcliff, 130 S.Ct. 2521 (2010) and the Department of Treasury’s Offset Program, then the check for 3 EAJA fees and expenses shall be made payable to Jacqueline A. Forslund, based upon Plaintiff’s 4 assignment of these amounts to Plaintiff’s attorney. The parties agree that whether these checks are 5 made payable to Plaintiff or Jacqueline A. Forslund, such checks shall be mailed to Plaintiff’s 6 attorney. This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for EAJA 7 attorney fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant under the 8 EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall constitute a complete release from, and bar 9 to, any and all claims that Plaintiff and/or Plaintiff’s Counsel may have relating to EAJA attorney 10 fees in connection with this action. 11 12 Respectfully submitted, 13 Date: September 7, 2021 JACQUELINE A. FORSLUND 14 Attorney at Law 15 16 /s/Jacqueline A. Forslund JACQUELINE A. FORSLUND 17 Attorney for Plaintiff 18 Date: September 7, 2021 PHILIP A. TALBERT 19 Acting United States Attorney DEBORAH STACHEL 20 Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX 21 Social Security Administration 22 /s/Marcelo Illarmo MARCELO ILLARMO 23 Special Assistant United States Attorney 24 *By email authorization Attorney for Defendant 25 26 27 28 1 ORDER 2 Based upon the parties’ above Stipulation and Order for the Award of Attorney’s Fees Under 3 4 the Equal Access to Justice Act Fees and Expenses (EAJA) (the “Stipulation”) (Doc. 20), 5 IT IS ORDERED that fees and expenses in the amount of ONE THOUSAND NINE 6 HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SIX dollars and TWENTY-EIGHT cents ($1,956.28) as authorized by the 7 8 Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), be awarded subject to the terms of the 9 Stipulation. 10 11 IT IS SO ORDERED. 12 13 Dated: September 8, 2021 /s/ Sheila K. Oberto . UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28