1 Jonathan O. Peña, Esq. 2 CA Bar ID No.: 278044 3 Peña & Bromberg, PLC 2440 Tulare St., Ste. 320 4 Fresno, CA 93721 5 Telephone: 559-439-9700 Facsimile: 559-439-9723 6 Email: [email protected] 7 Attorney for Plaintiff, Steven Michael Sossamon 8

9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA FRESNO DIVISION 11 12 13 STEVEN MICHAEL SOSSAMON, Case No. 1:23-cv-01187-SKO 14 Plaintiff, STIPULATION AND 15 UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR THE 16 v. AWARD AND PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES AND 17 M CoA mR mT iI sN si oO n’ eM r oA fL SL oE ciY al, Security,1 EXPENSES PURSUANT TO THE 18 EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE Defendant. ACT; ORDER 19 _____________________________________/ 20 21 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their undersigned 22 counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff be awarded attorney fees and expenses 23 in the amount of EIGHT HUNDRED FORTY-NINE DOLLARS and 73/100 ($849.73) under the 24 Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA),

(d), and costs in the amount of zero dollars 25 ($0.00) under

. This amount represents compensation for all legal services 26

27 1 On December 20, 2023, Martin O’Malley was named Commissioner of the Social Security Administration. See https://www.ssa.gov/history/commissioners.html. He is therefore substituted as the defendant in this action. See 42

(g) (referring to the “Commissioner’s Answer”);

(d) (“the person holding the Office 1 rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action, in accordance with 2

, 2412(d). 3 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will consider the 4 matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to counsel. Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff,

,

,

(2010), the ability to honor the assignment will depend 6 on whether the fees are subject to any offset allowed under the United States Department of the 7 Treasury’s Offset Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will 8 determine whether they are subject to any offset. 9 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury determines 10 that Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause the payment of fees, 11 expenses and costs to be made directly to Counsel, pursuant to the assignment executed by 12 Plaintiff. Any payments made shall be delivered and made payable to Plaintiff’s counsel, Jonathan 13 O. Peña. Additionally, any payment of costs under

may be made either by 14 electronic fund transfer (ETF) or by check. 15 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for EAJA 16 attorney fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant under the 17 EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall constitute a complete release from, and 18 bar to, any and all claims that Plaintiff and/or Counsel including Counsel’s firm may have relating 19 to EAJA attorney fees in connection with this action. 20 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Counsel and/or Counsel’s firm to seek 21 Social Security Act attorney fees under

(b), subject to the savings clause 22 provisions of the EAJA. 23 Respectfully submitted, 24 Dated: January 3, 2024 /s/ Jonathan O. Peña 25 JONATHAN O. PEÑA 26 Attorney for Plaintiff

27 Dated: January 3, 2024 PHILLIP A. TALBERT 28 United States Attorney 1 MAsAsoTcHiaEteW G Wen.e PraIlL CEo unsel 2 Office of Program Litigation Social Security Administration 3

4 By: _*_Franco L. Becia Franco L. Becia 5 Special Assistant U.S. Attorney 6 Attorneys for Defendant (*Permission to use electronic signature 7 obtained via email on January 3, 2024 ). 8

9 ORDER 10 Based upon the parties’ Stipulation for the Award and Payment of Equal Access to Justice 11 Act Fees and Expenses (the “Stipulation”), IT IS ORDERED that fees and expenses in the amount 12 of EIGHT HUNDRED FORTY-NINE DOLLARS and 73/100 ($849.73) as authorized by the 13 Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA),

(d), be awarded subject to the terms of the 14 Stipulation. 15

16 IT IS SO ORDERED.

17 Dated: January 4, 2024 /s/ Sheila K. Oberto . 18 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28