Rogers v. O'Malley
Rogers v. O'Malley
Trial Court Opinion
1 Marc V. Kalagian Attorney at Law: 4460 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: [email protected] 5 Leonard Stone 6 Attorney at Law: 5791 Shook & Stone 7 710 South 4th Street Las Vegas, NV 89101 8 Tel.: (702) 385-2220 Fax: (702) 384-0394 9 E-mail: [email protected] 10 Attorneys for Plaintiff Denise Rogers 11 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 12 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 13 14 DENISE ROGERS, ) Case No.: 2:24-cv-00893-BNW 15 ) Plaintiff, ) STIPULATION AND PROPOSED 16 ) ORDER FOR THE AWARD AND vs. ) PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES 17 ) AND EXPENSES PURSUANT TO FRANK BISIGNANO1, ) THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE 18 Commissioner of Social Security, ) ACT,
28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) AND ) COSTS PURSUANT TO
28 U.S.C. § 19Defendant. ) 1920 ) 20 ) 21 TO THE HONORABLE BRENDA WEKSLER, MAGISTRATE JUDGE 22 OF THE DISTRICT COURT: 23 24 1 Frank Bisignano became Commissioner of Social Security on May 7, 2025. Pursuant to Rule 25(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Frank Bisignano 25 should be substituted for Leland Dudek as the defendant in this suit. No further action need be taken to continue this suit by reason of the last sentence of section 26 1 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED, by and between the parties through their 2 undersigned counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Denise Rogers 3 (“Rogers”) be awarded attorney fees in the amount of THIRTY-SEVEN 4 HUNDRED dollars ($3,700.00) under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28
5 U.S.C. § 2412(d), and no costs under
28 U.S.C. § 1920. This amount represents 6 compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in 7 connection with this civil action, in accordance with
28 U.S.C. §§ 1920; 2412(d). 8 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Rogers, the government 9 will consider the matter of Rogers's assignment of EAJA fees to Marc Kalagian. 10 The retainer agreement containing the assignment is attached as exhibit 1. 11 Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff,
130 S.Ct. 2521, 2529(2010), the ability to honor the 12 assignment will depend on whether the fees are subject to any offset allowed under 13 the United States Department of the Treasury's Offset Program. After the order for 14 EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine whether they are subject to 15 any offset. 16 Fees shall be made payable to Rogers, but if the Department of the Treasury 17 determines that Rogers does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall 18 cause the payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made directly to Law Offices
19 of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, Inc., CPC, pursuant to the assignment executed by 20 Rogers.2 Any payments made shall be delivered to Law Offices of Lawrence D. 21 Rohlfing, Inc., CPC. Counsel agrees that any payment of costs may be made either 22 by electronic fund transfer (ETF) or by check. 23 24 25 2 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 ] This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Rogers's request for 2 || EAJA attorney fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of 3 || 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 Rogers 5 || and/or Marc Kalagian including Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, Inc., CPC, 6 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: May 19, 2025 —_ Respectfully submitted, 12 LAW OFFICES OF LAWRENCE D. ROHLFING, INC., CPC 13 |S! WUareV. Kalagiau BY: 14 Marc V. Kalagian Attorney for plaintiff 15 DENISE ROGERS 16 I DATE: May 19, 2025 SIGAL CHATTAH 7 United States Attorney 18 Isl Pelfrey E. Staples 19 JEFFREY E.STAPLES =” 0 Special Assistant United States Attorney Attorneys for Defendant 1 FRANK BISIGNANO, Commissioner of Social Security (Per e-mail authorization) 22 ORDER 23 Approved and so ordered: 24 DATE: 5/22/2025 25 A wa Lea WOES 26 THE HONORABLE BRENDA WEKSLER UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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 Denise Rogers in this action. I make this declaration of 5 my own knowledge and belief. 6 2. I attach as exhibit 1 a true and correct copy of the retainer agreement with 7 Denise Rogers 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 this matter. 10 I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct to the 11 best of my knowledge and belief. 12 Executed this May 19, 2025, at Santa Fe Springs, California. 13 14 /s/ Marc V. Kalagian 15 _________________________ Marc V. Kalagian 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 1 PROOF OF SERVICE 2 STATE OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES 3 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 May 20, 2025, I served the foregoing document described as 7 STIPULATION FOR THE AWARD AND PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES 8 AND EXPENSES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT, 9
28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) AND COSTS PURSUANT TO
28 U.S.C. § 1920on the 10 interested parties in this action by placing a true copy thereof enclosed in a sealed 11 envelope addressed as follows: 12 Ms. Denise Rogers 2320 N. Tucumcari Dr. Apt. 2057 13 Las Vegas, NV 89108 14 I caused such envelope with postage thereon fully prepaid to be placed in the 15 United States mail at Santa Fe Springs, California. 16 I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California 17 that the above is true and correct. 18 I declare that I am employed in the office of a member of this court at whose 19 direction the service was made. 20 Marc V. Kalagian ___ /s/ Marc V. Kalagian___________ 21 TYPE OR PRINT NAME SIGNATURE 22 23 24 25 26 1 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE FOR CASE NUMBER 2:24-CV-00893-BNW 2 I hereby certify that I electronically filed the foregoing with the Clerk of the 3 4 Court for this court by using the CM/ECF system on May 20, 2025. 5 I certify that all participants in the case are registered CM/ECF users and 6 that service will be accomplished by the CM/ECF system, except the plaintiff 7 served herewith by mail. 8 9 /s/ Marc V. Kalagian _______________________________ 10 Marc V. Kalagian 11 Attorneys for Plaintiff 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 SOCIAL SECURITY REPRESENTATION AGREEMENT This agreement was made on April 24, 2024, by and between the Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, Inc., CPC referred to as attorney and Ms. Denise Rogers, $.5.N. 0781, herein referred to as Claimant. 1. Claimant employs and appoints Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, Inc., CPC to represent Claimant as Ms. Denise Rogers’s Attorneys at law in a Social Security claim regarding a claim for disability benefits and empowers Attorney to take such action as may be advisable in the judgment of Attorney, including the taking of judicial review. 2. In consideration of the services to be performed by the Attorney and it being the desire of the Claimant to compensate Attorney out of the proceeds shall receive 25% of the past due benefits awarded by the Social Security Administration to the claimant or such amount as the Commissioner may designate under
42 U.S.C. § 406(a)(2)(A) which is $7,200.00 as of November 30, 2022, whichever is smaller, upon successful completion of the case at or before a first hearing decision from an ALJ. If the Claimant and the Attorney are unsuccessful in obtaining a recovery, Attorney will receive no fee. This matter is subject expedited fee approval except as stated in 3. 3. The provisions of 2 only apply to dispositions at or before a first hearing decision from an ALJ. The fee for successful prosecution of this matter is 25% of the past due benefits awarded upon reversal of any unfavorable ALJ decision for work before the Social Security Administration. Attorney shall petition for authorization to charge this fee in compliance with the Social Security Act for all time whether exclusively or not committed to such representation. 4. If this matter requires judicial review of any adverse decision of the Social Security Administration, the fee for successful prosecution of this matter is a separate 25% of the past due benefits awarded upon reversal of any unfavorable ALJ decision for work before the court. Attorney shall seek compensation under the Equal Access to Justice Act and such amount shall credit to the client for fees otherwise payable for that particular work. Client shall endorse such documents as are needed to pay Attorney any amounts under the EAJA and assigns such fee awards to Attorney. 5. Claimant shall pay all costs, including, but not limited to costs for medical reports, filing fees, and consultations and examinations by experts, in connection with the cause of action. □ 6. Attorney shall be entitled to a reasonable fee; notwithstanding the Claimant may discharge or obtain the substitution of attorneys before Attorney has completed the services for which he is hereby employed. 7. Attorney has made no warranties as to the successful termination of the cause of action, and all expressions made by Attorney relative thereto are matters of Attorney’s opinion only. 8. This Agreement comprises the entire contract between Attorney and Claimant. The laws of the State of California shall govern the construction and interpretation of this Agreement except that federal law governs the approval of fees by the Commissioner or a federal court. Business and Professions Code § 6147(a)(4) states “that the fee is not set by law but is negotiable between attorney and client.” S. Attorney agrees to perform all the services herein mentioned for the compensation provided above. 10. Client authorizes attorney to pay out of attorney fees and without cost to client any and all referral or association fees to Leslie Alvarez not to exceed 25% of fees and without adding to any fees owed by Claimant. 11. The receipt from Claimant of _ none _ is hereby acknowledged by attorney to be placed in trust and used for costs. Itis so agreed. \\enine Lope —— Denise Bourgeois Haley Ms. Denise Rogers Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, Inc., CPC Denise Bourgeois Haley [s5[ Mare VU. Kalagian
Denise Rogers
Social Security case Responsible Attorney: Marc V. Kalagian at $251.84 Paralegal: Enedina Perez (EP) at $179.00 Clerical: Enedina Perez (EP); Sue Roe (SR) at $89.50 DATE: TIME: ATTY: DESCRIPTION: 9-Apr-24 0.5 EP letter to client re DC and IFP forms 12-Jul-24 0.3 EP status letter to client 6-May-25 0.3 EP letter to AC re effectuation of judgment Subtotals 0.5 $89.50 13-May-24 0.3 EP preparation of certificate of interested parties, civil cover sheet and IFP 13-May-24 0.4 EP filing of complaint 10-Jul-24 0.9 SR receipt and assemble CAR 12-Jul-24 0.2 EP calendaring of briefs 22-Apr-25 0.1 SR receipt and review of order and judgment Subtotals 1.9 170.05 9-Apr-24 1 MVK review of file and ALJ denial for District Court case 13-May-24 0.4 MVK draft complaint; memo to EP re filing 8-Sep-24 6 MVK review CAR 9-Sep-24 4 MVK legal research, briefing of case 9-Oct-24 0.1 MVK receipt of defendant's brief 23-Oct-24 0.3 MVK status letter to client 30-Apr-25 0.6 MVK review of order and judment of remand; letter to client re same 16-May-25 0.3 MVK letter to client re EAJA 16-May-25 0.7 MVK preparation of letter to regional counsel 0.5 MVK preparation of stipulation for EAJA Subtotals 13.9 $3,500.58 TOTAL TIME 16.3 TOTAL EAJA $3,760.13
Reference
- Status
- Unknown