Curl v. Commissioner of Social Security

Filing 28

STIPULATION and ORDER for the award and payment of attorney fees and expenses signed by Magistrate Judge Deborah Barnes on 6/20/17. (Mena-Sanchez, L)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 Monica Perales Attorney at Law: 297739 Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing 12631 East Imperial Highway, Suite C-115 Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670 Tel.: (562) 868-5886 Fax: (562) 868-8868 E-mail: rohlfing.office@rohlfinglaw.com Attorneys for Plaintiff Michael Wade Curl 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 MICHAEL WADE CURL, 11 Plaintiff, 12 13 14 15 vs. NANCY A. BERRYHILL, Acting Commissioner of Social Security, Defendant. 16 ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) No. 2:15-cv-02088-DB STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR THE AWARD AND PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES AND EXPENSES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) AND COSTS PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § 1920 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 TO THE HONORABLE DEBORAH BARNES, MAGISTRATE JUDGE OF THE DISTRICT COURT: IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their undersigned counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Michael Wade Curl be awarded attorney fees and expenses in the amount of four thousand dollars ($4,000.00) under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d),. This amount represents compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920; 2412(d). -1- 1 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Michael Wade Curl, the 2 government will consider the matter of Michael Wade Curl's assignment of EAJA 3 fees to Monica Perales. The retainer agreement containing the assignment is 4 attached as exhibit 1. Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 2529 (2010), 5 the ability to honor the assignment will depend on whether the fees are subject to 6 any offset allowed under the United States Department of the Treasury's Offset 7 Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine 8 whether they are subject to any offset. 9 Fees shall be made payable to Michael Wade Curl, but if the Department of 10 the Treasury determines that Michael Wade Curl does not owe a federal debt, then 11 the government shall cause the payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made 12 directly to Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, pursuant to the assignment 13 executed by Michael Wade Curl.1 Any payments made shall be delivered to 14 Monica Perales. 15 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Michael Wade 16 Curl's request for EAJA attorney fees, and does not constitute an admission of 17 liability on the part of Defendant under the EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the 18 agreed amount shall constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any and all 19 claims that Michael Wade Curl and/or Monica Perales including Law Offices of 20 Lawrence D. Rohlfing may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection with 21 this action. 22 /// 23 /// 24 /// 25 1 26 27 28 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 Offset Program. -2- 1 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Monica Perales and/or the 2 Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing to seek Social Security Act attorney fees 3 under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause provisions of the EAJA. DATE: June 5, 2017 Respectfully submitted, 4 LAW OFFICES OF LAWRENCE D. ROHLFING 5 /s/ Monica Perales BY: __________________ Monica Perales Attorney for plaintiff Michael Wade Curl 6 7 8 9 DATED: June 5, 2017 PHILLIP A. TALBERT United States Attorney DEBORAH LEE STACHEL Regional Chief Counsel Region IX Social Security Administration 10 11 12 /s/ Jennifer A. Kenney 13 JENNIFER A. KENNEY Special Assistant United States Attorney Attorneys for Defendant Nancy A. Berryhill, Acting Commissioner of Social Security (Per e-mail authorization) 14 15 16 17 18 ORDER Pursuant to the parties’ stipulation, IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: June 20, 2017 19 20 21 22 23 24 DLB:6 DB\orders\orders.soc sec\maxwell0705.stip.eaja.ord 25 26 27 28 -3-

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