(SS) Manor v. Commissioner of Social Security ( 2023 )

1 Laura E. Krank Attorney at Law: 220208 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 Kimberly Sue Manor 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 KIMBERLY SUE MANOR, ) No. 2:22-cv-0666 DB ) 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. ) ) 17 18 TO THE HONORABLE DEBORAH BARNES, 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 Kimberly Sue 22 Manor be awarded attorney fees and expenses in the amount of SIX THOUSAND 23 THREE HUNDRED dollars ($6,300.00) under the Equal Access to Justice Act 24 (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), and no costs under 28 U.S.C. § 1920. This amount 25 represents compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by 26 1 counsel in connection with this civil action, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920; 2 2412(d). 3 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Kimberly Sue Manor, the 4 government will consider the matter of Kimberly Sue Manor's assignment of EAJA 5 fees to Laura E. Krank. The retainer agreement containing the assignment is 6 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 Kimberly Sue Manor, but if the Department 12 of the Treasury determines that Kimberly Sue Manor 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, Inc., CPC, pursuant to the 15 assignment executed by Kimberly Sue Manor.1 Any payments made shall be 16 delivered to Laura E. Krank. 17 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Kimberly Sue 18 Manor'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 Kimberly Sue Manor and/or Laura E. Krank including Law Offices of 22 Lawrence D. Rohlfing, Inc., CPC 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 Laura E. Krank and/or the 2 Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, Inc., CPC to seek Social Security Act 3 attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause provisions of 4 the EAJA. 5 DATE: October 23, 2023 Respectfully submitted, 6 LAW OFFICES OF LAWRENCE D. ROHLFING, INC., CPC 7 /s/ Laura E. Krank BY: _________________________ 8 Laura E. Krank Attorney for plaintiff Kimberly Sue Manor 9 10 DATED: October 23, 2023 PHILLIP A. TALBERT 11 United States Attorney 12 MATHEW W. PILE Associate General Counsel 13 Social Security Administration 14 /s/ Timothy R. Bolin 15 16 TIMOTHY R. BOLIN Special Assistant United States Attorney 17 Attorneys for Defendant KILOLO KIJAKAZI, Acting Commissioner of 18 Social Security (Per e-mail authorization) 19 20 21 ORDER 22 Approved and so ordered. 23 DATED: October 26, 2023 /s/ DEBORAH BARNES 24 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 25 ___________________________________ 26