(SS) Katherine Ashmore v. Commissioner of Social Security ( 2022 )

1 Young Cho Attorney at Law: 189870 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 Katherine Ashmore 7 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 KATHERINE ASHMORE, ) Case No.: 1:20-cv-00817-EPG ) 13 Plaintiff, ) STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR THE ) AWARD AND PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY 14 vs. ) FEES AND EXPENSES PURSUANT TO ) THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 15 KILOLO KIJAKAZI, ) 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) AND COSTS Acting Commissioner of Social Security, ) PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § 1920 16 ) Defendant. ) (ECF No. 29) 17 ) ) 18 19 TO THE HONORABLE ERICA P. GROSJEAN, MAGISTRATE JUDGE OF THE 20 DISTRICT COURT: 21 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED, by and between the parties through their undersigned 22 counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Katherine Ashmore be awarded attorney fees 23 in the amount of five thousand six hundred dollars ($5,600.00) under the Equal Access to Justice 24 Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), and costs in the amount of zero dollars ($0) under 28 U.S.C. 25 § 1920. This amount represents compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of 26 1 Plaintiff by 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 Ashmore, the government will consider 4 the matter of Ashmore's assignment of EAJA fees to Young Cho. The retainer agreement 5 containing the assignment is attached as exhibit 1. Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 6 2529 (2010), the ability to honor the assignment will depend on whether the fees are subject to 7 any offset allowed under the United States Department of the Treasury's Offset Program. After 8 the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine whether they are subject to 9 any offset. 10 Fees shall be made payable to Ashmore, but if the Department of the Treasury 11 determines that Ashmore does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause the 12 payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made directly to Law Offices of Lawrence D. 13 Rohlfing, Inc., CPC, pursuant to the assignment executed by Ashmore.1 Any payments made 14 shall be delivered to Young Cho. 15 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Ashmore's request for EAJA 16 attorney fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant under the 17 EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall constitute a complete release from, and 18 bar to, any and all claims that Ashmore and/or Young Cho including Law Offices of Lawrence 19 D. Rohlfing, Inc., CPC may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection with this action. 20 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Young Cho and/or the Law Offices of 21 Lawrence D. Rohlfing, Inc., CPC to seek Social Security Act attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 22 406(b), subject to the savings clause provisions of the EAJA. 23 24 25 26 1 The parties do not stipulate whether counsel for the plaintiff has a cognizable lien under federal 1 DATE: May 12, 2022 Respectfully submitted, 2 LAW OFFICES OF LAWRENCE D. ROHLFING, INC., CPC 3 /s/ Young Cho BY: _________________________ 4 Young Cho Attorney for plaintiff Katherine Ashmore 5 6 DATE: May 12, 2022 PHILLIP A. TALBERT 7 Acting United States Attorney PETER K. THOMPSON 8 Regional Chief Counsel Social Security Administration 9 10 /s/ Oscar Gonzalez de Llano 11 OSCAR GONZALEZ DE LLANO 12 Special Assistant United States Attorney Attorneys for Defendant 13 KILOLO KIJAKAZI, Acting Commissioner of Social Security (Per e-mail authorization) 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 1 ORDER Based on the parties’ stipulation (ECF No. 29) for award of attorney fees pursuant to the 3 Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), attorney fees in the amount of five thousand six hundred dollars ($5,600) shall be awarded subject to the terms of the stipulation. No costs are awarded under 28 U.S.C. § 1920. ; IT IS SO ORDERED. g || Dated: _ May 13, 2022 [see ey UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26