Wilson v. Commissioner of Social Security

Filing 18

ORDER Granting 4 Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis and Vacating 13 Evidentiary Hearing, signed by Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone on 4/24/15. (Gonzalez, R)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 BRENDA DARLENE WILSON, Plaintiff, 12 13 14 Case No. 1:14-cv-01392-AWI-SAB ORDER GRANTING APPLICATION TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS AND VACATING EVIDENTIARY HEARING v. COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, ECF NO. 13, 17 Defendant. 15 16 17 On April 8, 2015, the Court issued an order setting an evidentiary hearing to address 18 issues arising from Plaintiff Brenda Darlene Wilson’s application to proceed in forma pauperis. 19 (ECF No. 16.) The Court noted that Plaintiff filed successive applications to proceed in forma 20 pauperis which contained inconsistent information. 21 Plaintiff filed a brief ahead of the evidentiary hearing on April 22, 2015. (ECF No. 17.) 22 Plaintiff explains that the inconsistencies throughout her applications stemmed from Plaintiff’s 23 misunderstanding of the forms she was completing. Plaintiff also attributed many of the 24 inconsistencies to changes in the amount of food stamps benefits she was receiving and the 25 addition of “irregular” monthly household expenses that she did not include in earlier 26 applications. 27 The Court will vacate the evidentiary hearing and grant Plaintiff leave to proceed in 28 forma pauperis. However, the Court admonishes Plaintiff’s attorney for failing to advocate 1 1 effectively on behalf of her client. It is clear that attorney Jacqueline Anna Forslund allowed her 2 client to complete the in forma pauperis applications without providing her client with any help 3 or guidance. If Ms. Forslund simply reviewed her client’s applications before she filed them 4 with the Court she could have addressed any errata that came up and provided her client with 5 assistance in interpreting the form and providing responsive answers that represented her client’s 6 best interests. Ms. Forslund is advised that if she continues her practice of having her clients 7 complete in forma pauperis applications without help from their attorney, the Court will impute 8 any misrepresentations, mistakes, and misconceptions made by the client to Ms. Forslund. Ms. Forslund is also advised that the Court does not intend to entertain future in forma 9 10 pauperis applications from her office which successively present additional information to the 11 Court when prior applications are denied. Ms. Forslund is advised to present her best case on 12 behalf of her client in her first application. Ms. Forslund may not present her “easy” case on her 13 first try, then dig deeper and present a more thorough case on a successive application after the 14 first is denied. Such practices waste this Court’s time and resources. 15 Based upon the foregoing, it is HEREBY ORDERED that: 16 1. Plaintiff is GRANTED leave to proceed in forma pauperis; 17 2. The Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to issue a summons; 18 3. The United States Marshal is DIRECTED to serve a copy of the complaint, summons, and this order upon the defendant if requested by the plaintiff; 19 20 4. The evidentiary hearing set for May 6, 2015 at 9:00 a.m. is VACATED; and 21 5. The Findings and Recommendations issued on December 16, 2014 are VACATED. 22 23 24 IT IS SO ORDERED. 25 Dated: April 24, 2015 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 26 27 28 2

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