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6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 8 FRESNO DIVISION

9 ALEXIS ARIEL GARCIA, Case No. 1:23-cv-00567-EPG

10 Plaintiff, STIPULATION FOR THE AWARD AND PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES AND 11 v. EXPENSES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL 12 ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT; ORDER MARTIN O’MALLEY1, Commissioner of 13 Social Security, (ECF No. 23)

14 Defendant. 15 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their undersigned counsel, 16 subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff be awarded attorney fees and expenses in the amount 17 of NINE THOUSAND DOLLARS AND 00/100 ($9,000.00) under the Equal Access to Justice Act 18 (EAJA),

(d), and costs in the amount of ZERO dollars ($0.00) under 28 U.S.C. 19 §1920. This amount represents compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by 20 counsel in connection with this civil action, in accordance with

, 2412(d). 21 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will consider the matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to counsel. Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff,

, 22 598,

,

(2010), the ability to honor the assignment will depend on 23 whether the fees are subject to any offset allowed under the United States Department of the 24 25

26 1 Martin O’Malley became the Commissioner of Social Security on December 20, 2023. Pursuant to Rule 25(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Martin O’Malley should be substituted for Kilolo Kijakazi 27 as the defendant in this suit. No further action need be taken to continue this suit by reason of the last sentence 1 Treasury’s Offset Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine 2 whether they are subject to any offset. 3 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury determines that 4 Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause the payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made directly to Counsel, pursuant to the assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any 5 payments made shall be delivered and made payable to Plaintiff’s counsel, Jonathan O. Peña. 6 Additionally, any payment of costs under

may be made either by electronic fund 7 transfer (ETF) or by check. 8 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for EAJA attorney 9 fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant under the EAJA or 10 otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any 11 and all claims that Plaintiff and/or Counsel including Counsel’s firm may have relating to EAJA 12 attorney fees in connection with this action. 13 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Counsel and/or Counsel’s firm to seek Social 14 Security Act attorney fees under

(b), subject to the savings clause provisions of the 15 EAJA. 16 Respectfully submitted, 17

18 Dated: March 5, 2024 /s/ Jonathan O. Peña J ONATHAN O. PEÑA 19 Attorney for Plaintiff 20 Dated: March 5, 2024 PHILLIP A. TALBERT 21 United States Attorney 22 MATHEW W. PILE Associate General Counsel 23 Office of Program Litigation Social Security Administration 24

25 By: _*_Caspar I. Chan Caspar I. Chan 26 Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Attorneys for Defendant 27 (*Permission to use electronic signature obtained via email on March 5, 2024). | ORDER 2 Based upon the parties’ Stipulation for the Award and Payment of Equal Access to Justice Act 3 || Fees and Expenses (ECF No. 23), IT IS ORDERED that fees and expenses in the amount of NINE 4 || THOUSAND DOLLARS AND 00/100 ($9,000.00) as authorized by the Equal Access to Justice Act 5 || (EAJA),

(d) and costs in the amount of ZERO dollars ($0.00) under 28 U.S.C. 6 || § 1920, be awarded subject to the terms of the Stipulation. 5 IT IS SO ORDERED.

8|| Dated: _ March 6, 2024 [sf ey — 9 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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