(SS) Saesee v. Commissioner of Social Security ( 2022 )

1 Lawrence D. Rohlfing Attorney at Law: 119433 2 Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, Inc., CPC 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 Eena Saesee 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 EENA SAESEE, ) Case No.: 1:21-cv-01562-SKO ) 12 Plaintiff, ) STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR ) THE AWARD AND PAYMENT OF 13 vs. ) ATTORNEY FEES AND EXPENSES ) PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL 14 KILOLO KIJAKAZI, ) ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. Acting Commissioner of Social ) § 2412(d) AND COSTS PURSUANT 15 Security, ) TO 28 U.S.C. § 1920 ) 16 Defendant. ) (Doc. 21) ) 17 18 TO THE HONORABLE SHEILA K. OBERTO, MAGISTRATE JUDGE 19 OF THE DISTRICT COURT: 20 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED, by and between the parties through their 21 undersigned counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Eena Saesee be 22 awarded attorney fees and expenses in the amount of four thousand four hundred 23 forty dollars ($4,440.00) under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. 24 § 2412(d), and costs in the amount of four hundred two dollars ($402.00) under 28 25 U.S.C. § 1920. This amount represents compensation for all legal services 26 1 rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action, in 2 accordance with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920; 2412(d). 3 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Saesee, the government 4 will consider the matter of Saesee's assignment of EAJA fees to Lawrence D. 5 Rohlfing. The retainer agreement containing the assignment is attached as exhibit 6 1. Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 2529 (2010), the ability to honor 7 the assignment will depend on whether the fees are subject to any offset allowed 8 under the United States Department of the Treasury's Offset Program. After the 9 order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine whether they are 10 subject to any offset. 11 Fees shall be made payable to Saesee, but if the Department of the Treasury 12 determines that Saesee does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall 13 cause the payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made directly to Law Offices 14 of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, Inc., CPC, pursuant to the assignment executed by 15 Saesee.1 Any payments made shall be delivered to Lawrence D. Rohlfing. 16 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Eena Saesee's 17 request for EAJA attorney fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on 18 the part of Defendant under the EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount 19 shall constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any and all claims that Saesee 20 and/or Lawrence D. Rohlfing including Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, 21 Inc., CPC may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection with this action. 22 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Lawrence D. Rohlfing and/or 23 the Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, Inc., CPC to seek Social Security Act 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 attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause provisions of 2 the EAJA. 3 DATE: November 7, 2022 Respectfully submitted, 4 LAW OFFICES OF LAWRENCE D. ROHLFING, INC., CPC 5 /s/ Lawrence D. Rohlfing BY: _________________________ 6 Lawrence D. Rohlfing Attorney for plaintiff Eena Saesee 7 8 DATED: November 7, 2022 PHILLIP A. TALBERT 9 United States Attorney 10 MATHEW W. PILE Associate General Counsel 11 Social Security Administration 12 /s/ Andrea Banks 13 14 ANDREA BANKS Special Assistant United States Attorney 15 Attorneys for Defendant KILOLO KIJAKAZI, Acting Commissioner of 16 Social Security (Per e-mail authorization) 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 1 ORDER 2 3 Based upon the parties’ foregoing Stipulation for the Award and Payment of 4 Equal Access to Justice Act Fees and Expenses (the “Stipulation”) (Doc. 21), 5 IT IS ORDERED that fees and expenses in the amount of four thousand 6 four hundred forty dollars ($4,440.00) under EAJA, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), and costs 7 8 in the amount of four hundred two dollars ($402.00) under 28 U.S.C. § 1920 be 9 awarded subject to the terms of the Stipulation. 10 11 IT IS SO ORDERED. 12 13 Dated: November 9, 2022 /s/ Sheila K. Oberto . UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26