Rosales v. Saul

Background

The parties submitted a stipulation asking the court to approve a settlement of Rosales’s request for attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d). The stipulation states that the agreed amount covers all legal services provided by Rosales’s counsel in connection with the civil action.

Settlement Terms

The agreed attorney-fee amount was $6,600. The fees are payable to Rosales. Under the stipulation, the government would consider assigning the fees to attorney Angelina Valle after the court entered the fee order. Payment could be affected by any offset under the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Offset Program. If Treasury determined that Rosales did not owe a federal debt, the government would arrange for payment directly to Valle under Rosales’s assignment.

The stipulation described the agreement as a compromise settlement and said it was not an admission of liability by the defendant under the EAJA or otherwise. Payment would release and bar claims by Rosales, Valle, and Valle’s firm relating to EAJA fees and expenses in this action. The award did not affect counsel’s ability to seek attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the EAJA’s savings-clause provisions.

Ruling

The court approved the stipulation and ordered that Rosales be awarded $6,600 in attorney fees under 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), subject to the stipulation’s terms. The order also admonished the parties to email proposed orders in Microsoft Word format with motions or stipulations requesting court action.