1 Francesco Benavides, CSBN 258924 Law Offices of Francesco Benavides 2 1990 N. California Blvd. Suite 20 Walnut Creek, CA 94596 3 Tel: (925) 222-7071 4 Fax: (925) 522-5306 Email: [email protected] 5 6 Attorney for Plaintiff STEPHANIE IVOK 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 STEPHANIE IVOK, Case No. 3:22-cv-05813-LJC 12 Plaintiff, STIPULATION FOR THE AWARD 13 AND PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY 14 v. FEES AND EXPENSES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO 15 KILOLO KIJAKAZI, Acting JUSTICE ACT; ORDER 16 Commissioner of Social Security, 17 Defendant. 18 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their 19 undersigned counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff be awarded 20 attorney fees and expenses in the amount of $7,400.00, under the Equal Access to 21 Justice Act (EAJA),

(d). This amount represents compensation for all 22 legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil 23 action, in accordance with

(d). 24 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will 25 consider the matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to counsel. Pursuant to 26 Astrue v. Ratliff,

,

,

(2010), the ability 27 to honor the assignment will depend on whether the fees are subject to any offset 1 allowed under the United States Department of the Treasury’s Offset Program. After 2 the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine whether they are 3 subject to any offset. 4 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury 5 determines that Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause 6 the payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made directly to Plaintiff’s counsel, 7 Francesco Benavides, pursuant to the assignment executed by Plaintiff. 8 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for 9 EAJA attorney fees and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of 10 Defendant under the EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall 11 constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any and all claims that Plaintiff and/or 12 Francesco Benavides may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection with this 13 action. 14 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Francesco Benavides to seek 15 Social Security Act attorney fees under

(b), subject to the savings 16 clause provisions of the EAJA. 17 18 Respectfully submitted, 19 20 Dated: April 6, 2023 Law Offices of Francesco Benavides 21 By: /s/ Francesco Benavides 22 FRANCESCO P. BENAVIDES 23 Attorney for Plaintiff 24 25 26 27 Dated: April 6, 2023 PHILLIP A. TALBERT United States Attorney 1 MATHEW W. PILE Associate General Counsel 2 Social Security Administration 3 4 By: Michelle A. Pavelek* MICHELLE A. PAVELEK 5 Special Assistant U.S. Attorney 6 Attorneys for Defendant (*Permission to use electronic signature 7 obtained via email on April 6, 2023). 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 ORDER 2 Based upon the parties’ Stipulation for the Award and Payment of Equal Access to Justice Act Fees and Expenses, IT IS ORDERED that fees and expenses in the

5 || amount of $7,400.00 as authorized by

be awarded subject to the terms 6 || of the Stipulation. 7 8 ° DATE: April 7, 2023 fart/—— 10 ne La, i CISNEROS 11 ED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -4-