Johnson v. O'Malley

Filing 21

ORDER granting 20 JOINT STIPULATION FOR THE AWARD AND PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES AND EXPENSES. Signed by Magistrate Judge Carla Baldwin on 11/26/2024. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - GA)

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1 2 3 4 Marc V. Kalagian Attorney at Law: 4460 Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, Inc., CPC 12631 East Imperial Highway Suite C-115 Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670 Tel.: (562) 868-5886 Fax: (562) 868-8868 E-mail: marc.kalagian@rksslaw.com 5 6 7 8 9 10 Leonard Stone Attorney at Law: 5791 Shook & Stone 710 South 4th Street Las Vegas, NV 89101 Tel.: (702) 385-2220 Fax: (702) 384-0394 E-mail: Lstone@shookandstone.com Attorneys for Plaintiff Christina Louise Johnson 11 12 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 13 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 14 15 CHRISTINA LOUISE JOHNSON, 16 Plaintiff, 17 18 vs. MARTIN O'MALLEY, Commissioner of Social Security, 19 Defendant. 20 ) Case No.: 3:24-cv-00197-CLB ) ) ORDER GRANTING JOINT ) STIPULATION 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 ) ) 21 22 23 TO THE HONORABLE CARLA BALDWIN, MAGISTRATE JUDGE OF THE DISTRICT COURT: 24 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED, by and between the parties through their 25 undersigned counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Christina Louise 26 Johnson (“Johnson”) be awarded attorney fees in the amount of seven thousand -1- 1 one hundred dollars ($7,100.00) and expenses in the amount of zero dollars ($0.00) 2 under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), and costs in 3 the amount of zero dollars ($0.00) under 28 U.S.C. § 1920. This amount 4 represents compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by 5 counsel in connection with this civil action, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920; 6 2412(d). 7 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Johnson, the government 8 will consider the matter of Johnson's assignment of EAJA fees to Marc Kalagian. 9 The retainer agreement containing the assignment is attached as exhibit 1. 10 Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 2529 (2010), the ability to honor the 11 assignment will depend on whether the fees are subject to any offset allowed under 12 the United States Department of the Treasury's Offset Program. After the order for 13 EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine whether they are subject to 14 any offset. 15 Fees shall be made payable to Johnson, but if the Department of the 16 Treasury determines that Johnson does not owe a federal debt, then the government 17 shall cause the payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made directly to Law 18 Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, Inc., CPC, pursuant to the assignment executed 19 by Johnson.1 Any payments made shall be delivered to Law Offices of Lawrence 20 D. Rohlfing, Inc., CPC. Counsel agrees that any payment of costs may be made 21 either by electronic fund transfer (ETF) or by check. 22 /// 23 /// 24 25 26 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 Offset Program. -2- 1 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Johnson's request 2 for EAJA attorney fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part 3 of Defendant under the EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall 4 constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any and all claims that Johnson 5 and/or Marc Kalagian including Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, Inc., CPC, 6 may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection with this action. 7 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Marc Kalagian and/or the 8 Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, Inc., CPC, to seek Social Security Act 9 attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause provisions of 10 the EAJA. 11 DATE: November 25, 2024 Respectfully submitted, LAW OFFICES OF LAWRENCE D. ROHLFING, INC., CPC 12 /s/ Marc V. Kalagian 2 BY: __________________ Marc V. Kalagian Attorney for plaintiff CHRISTINA LOUISE JOHNSON 13 14 15 16 17 DATED: November 25, 2024 JASON M. FRIERSON United States Attorney 18 /s/ David Priddy 19 DAVID PRIDDY Special Assistant United States Attorney Attorneys for Defendant MARTIN O'MALLEY, Commissioner of Social Security (Per e-mail authorization) 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 2 Counsel for the plaintiff attests that all other signatories listed, and on whose behalf the filing is submitted, concur in the filing’s content and have authorized the filing. -3- ORDER 1 2 It is so ordered. 3 DATE: November 26, 2024 4 5 ___________________________________ THE HONORABLE CARLA BALDWIN UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 -4- 1 DECLARATION OF MARC V. KALAGIAN 2 I, Marc V. Kalagian, declare as follows: 3 1. I am an attorney at law duly admitted to practice before this Court in this 4 case. I represent Christina Louise Johnson in this action. I make this 5 declaration of my own knowledge and belief. 6 2. I attach as exhibit 1 a true and correct copy of the retainer agreement with 7 Christina Louise Johnson containing an assignment of the EAJA fees. 8 3. I attach as exhibit 2 a true and correct copy of the itemization of time in 9 10 11 12 this matter. I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief. Executed this November 25, 2024, at Santa Fe Springs, California. 13 14 15 /s/ Marc V. Kalagian _________________________ Marc V. Kalagian 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 -5- PROOF OF SERVICE 1 2 3 STATE OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES I am employed in the county of Los Angeles, State of California. I am over 4 the age of 18 and not a party to the within action. My business address is 12631 5 East Imperial Highway, Suite C-115, Santa Fe Springs, California 90670. 6 On this day of November 25, 2024, I served the foregoing document 7 described as STIPULATION FOR THE AWARD AND PAYMENT OF 8 ATTORNEY FEES AND EXPENSES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS 9 TO JUSTICE ACT, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) AND COSTS PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. 10 § 1920 on the interested parties in this action by placing a true copy thereof 11 enclosed in a sealed envelope addressed as follows: 12 Ms. Christina Louise Johnson 1295 Grand Summit Drive #F247 Reno, NV 89523 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 I caused such envelope with postage thereon fully prepaid to be placed in the United States mail at Santa Fe Springs, California. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the above is true and correct. I declare that I am employed in the office of a member of this court at whose direction the service was made. Marc V. Kalagian ___ TYPE OR PRINT NAME /s/ Marc V. Kalagian___________ SIGNATURE 1 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE FOR CASE NUMBER 3:24-CV-00197-CLB 2 3 4 5 6 I hereby certify that I electronically filed the foregoing with the Clerk of the Court for this court by using the CM/ECF system on November 25, 2024. I certify that all participants in the case are registered CM/ECF users and that service will be accomplished by the CM/ECF system, except the plaintiff 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 served herewith by mail. /s/ Marc V. Kalagian _______________________________ Marc V. Kalagian Attorneys for Plaintiff Christina Johnson CV 24-179 CLB Social Security case Responsible Attorney: Marc V. Kalagian (MVK) Young Cho (YC) Paralegal: Enedina Perez (EP) DATE: TIME: 0.5 1-May-24 0.1 2-May-24 0.1 2-May-24 0.1 2-May-24 0.1 16-May-24 0.2 1-Aug-24 0.1 1-Aug-24 0.2 6-Aug-24 0.3 11-Nov-24 Subtotals ATTY: EP EP EP EP EP EP EP EP EP DESCRIPTION: preparation of documents related to complaint receipt and review of order re IFP receipt and review of order re social security matters receipt and review of general order receipt and review of notice of appearance receipt and review of notice of appearance receipt and review of administrative record preparation of letter to client re filing status AC post judgment letter (appeals council to remand) review of file and AC denial for District Court case preparation of complaint receipt, review and response to proposed request for receipt and review of order re extension review of transcript and conduct of legal research regarding issues presented review of transcript and conduct of legal research regarding issues presented preparation of plaintiff's opening brief review, review and edit opening brief receipt and review of proposed stipulation for remand; review of file telephonic communication with client preparation of email to ARC receipt and review of notice of appearance receipt and review of order of remand; judgment preparation of letter to regional counsel; itemization preparation of letter to client re results preparation of EAJA stipulation 1.7 2-Apr-24 1-May-24 25-Jun-24 26-Jun-24 28-Sep-24 1 0.5 0.1 0.1 7.5 MVK MVK MVK MVK YC 29-Sep-24 8 YC 30-Sep-24 1-Oct-24 16-Oct-24 7.8 0.5 0.5 YC MVK MVK 17-Oct-24 17-Oct-24 18-Oct-24 21-Oct-24 11-Nov-24 11-Nov-24 11-Nov-24 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.7 0.4 0.3 MVK MVK MVK MVK MVK MVK MVK Subtotals 28 TOTAL TIME 29.7 Page 1 of 1

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