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

1 Steven G. Rosales Attorney at Law: 222224 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 Michelle Heidi Rex 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 MICHELLE HEIDI REX, ) No. 2:20-cv-2429 DB 11 ) Plaintiff, ) STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR 12 ) THE AWARD AND PAYMENT OF vs. ) ATTORNEY FEES AND EXPENSES 13 ) PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL KILOLO KIJAKAZI, ) ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. 14 Acting Commissioner of Social ) § 2412(d) AND COSTS PURSUANT Security, ) TO 28 U.S.C. § 1920 15 ) Defendant. ) 16 ) 17 TO DEBORAH BARNES, MAGISTRATE JUDGE OF THE DISTRICT 18 COURT: 19 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their 20 undersigned counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Michelle Heidi Rex 21 be awarded attorney fees and expenses in the amount of FOUR THOUSAND 22 NINE HUNDRED dollars ($4,900.00) under the Equal Access to Justice Act 23 (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), and costs in the amount of FOUR HUNDRED AND 24 TWO dollars ($402.00) under 28 U.S.C. § 1920. This amount represents 25 26 1 compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in 2 connection with this civil action, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920; 2412(d). 3 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Michelle Heidi Rex, the 4 government will consider the matter of Michelle Heidi Rex's assignment of EAJA 5 fees to Steven G. Rosales. 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 Michelle Heidi Rex, but if the Department of 12 the Treasury determines that Michelle Heidi Rex does not owe a federal debt, then 13 the government shall cause the payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made 14 directly to Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, Inc., CPC, pursuant to the 15 assignment executed by Michelle Heidi Rex.1 Any payments made shall be 16 delivered to Steven G. Rosales. 17 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Michelle Heidi 18 Rex'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 Michelle Heidi Rex and/or Steven G. Rosales 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 Steven G. Rosales 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: May 24, 2022 Respectfully submitted, 6 LAW OFFICES OF LAWRENCE D. ROHLFING, INC., CPC 7 /s/ Steven G. Rosales BY: _________________________ 8 Steven G. Rosales Attorney for plaintiff Michelle Heidi Rex 9 10 DATED: May 27, 2022 11 PHILLIP TALBERT 12 Acting United States Attorney 13 14 /s/ Daniel P. Talbert 15 16 DANIEL P. TALBERT Special Assistant United States Attorney 17 Attorneys for Defendant KILOLO KIJAKAZI, Acting Commissioner of Social Security 18 (Per e-mail authorization) 19 ORDER 20 Pursuant to the parties’ stipulation, IT IS SO ORDERED. 21 DATED: June 7, 2022 /s/ DEBORAH BARNES 22 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 23 24 25 26