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

8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA FRESNO DIVISION 11 12 Raul Rangel, Case No. 1:21-CV-00470-AWI-GSA

13 Plaintiff, STIPULATION FOR THE AWARD 14 AND PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY v. FEES AND EXPENSES PURSUANT 15 TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO 16 Martin O’Malley1, Commissioner of JUSTICE ACT; ORDER Social Security, 17 18 Defendant. 19 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their 20 undersigned counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff be awarded 21 attorney fees and expenses in the amount of FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS AND 22 00/100 ($5,000.00) under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA),

(d), 23 and costs in the amount of ZERO dollars ($0.00) under

. This amount 24 25 1 Martin O’Malley became the Commissioner of Social Security on December 26 20, 2023. Pursuant to Rule 25(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Martin O’Malley should be substituted for Kilolo Kijakazi as the defendant in this suit. No 27 further action need be taken to continue this suit by reason of the last sentence of section 205(g) of the Social Security Act,

(g). 1 represents compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel 2 in connection with this civil action, in accordance with

, 2412(d). 3 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will 4 consider the matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to counsel. Pursuant to 5 Astrue v. Ratliff,

,

,

(2010), the ability 6 to honor the assignment will depend on whether the fees are subject to any offset 7 allowed under the United States Department of the Treasury’s Offset Program. After 8 the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine whether they are 9 subject to any offset. 10 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury 11 determines that Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause 12 the payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made directly to Counsel, pursuant to 13 the assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any payments made shall be delivered and 14 made payable to Plaintiff’s counsel, Jonathan O. Peña. Additionally, any payment of 15 costs under

may be made either by electronic fund transfer (ETF) or 16 by check. 17 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for 18 EAJA attorney fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of 19 Defendant under the EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall 20 constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any and all claims that Plaintiff and/or 21 Counsel including Counsel’s firm may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in 22 connection with this action. 23 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Counsel and/or Counsel’s firm 24 to seek Social Security Act attorney fees under

(b), subject to the 25 savings clause provisions of the EAJA. 26 Respectfully submitted, 27 1 Dated: January 11, 2024 /s/ Jonathan O. Peña 2 J ONATHAN O. PEÑA Attorney for Plaintiff 3

4 Dated: January 11, 2024 PHILLIP A. TALBERT 5 United States Attorney MATHEW W. PILE 6 Associate General Counsel 7 Office of Program Litigation 8 Social Security Administration

9 By: _*_Marla K. Letellier 10 Marla K. Letellier Special Assistant U.S. Attorney 11 Attorneys for Defendant 12 (*Permission to use electronic signature obtained via email on January 10, 2024). 13

14 ORDER 15

16 Based upon the parties’ Stipulation for the Award and Payment of Equal Access 17 to Justice Act Fees and Expenses (the “Stipulation”), 18 19 IT IS ORDERED that fees and expenses in the amount of FIVE THOUSAND 20 DOLLARS AND 00/100 ($5,000.00) as authorized by the Equal Access to Justice Act 21 (EAJA),

(d) and costs in the amount of ZERO dollars ($0.00) under 28 22

, be awarded subject to the terms of the Stipulation. 24 25 IT IS SO ORDERED. 26 Dated: January 11, 2024 /s/ Gary S. Austin 27 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27