1 Melissa Newel (CA #148563) NEWEL LAW 2 2625 Alcatraz Ave., Suite 132 Berkeley, CA 94705 3 (510) 316-3827 4 [email protected] Attorney for Plaintiff 5 JOHNNY RAY GILDER, JR.

6 PHILLIP A. TALBERT 7 United States Attorney MATHEW W. PILE 8 Associate General Counsel Office of Program Litigation, Office 7 9 JUSTIN L. MARTIN (MO #62255) Special Assistant United States Attorney 10 Office of Program Litigation, Office 7 11 Office of the General Counsel Social Security Administration 12 6401 Security Boulevard Baltimore, MD 21235-6401 13 (206) 615-3735 [email protected] 14 Attorneys for Defendant 15 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 16 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 17 18 JOHNNY RAY GILDER, JR., No. 1:24-CV-01219 (SKO) 19 Plaintiff,

20 v. STIPULATION AND UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR AWARD AND PAYMENT 21 COMMISSIONER OF OF ATTORNEYS FEES PURSUANT TO SOCIAL SECURITY, THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT 22 (

(d)); ORDER Defendant. 23 (Doc 14) 24

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28 1 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties, through their undersigned 2 attorneys, subject to the approval of the Court, that Johnny Ray Gilder, Jr. (“Plaintiff”) be 3 awarded attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (“EAJA”),

(d), in 4 the amount of five hundred and ninety-nine dollars and thirty-two cents ($599.32). This 5 represents compensation for legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in 6 connection with this civil action, in accordance with

(d). 7 After the Court issues an Order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will consider 8 the matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to Plaintiff’s attorney. Pursuant to Astrue v. 9 Ratliff,

(2010), the ability to honor the assignment will depend on whether the 10 attorney fees are subject to any offset allowed under the United States Department of the 11 Treasury’s Offset Program. After the Order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will 12 determine whether they are subject to any offset. 13 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury determines 14 that Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt subject to offset, then the government shall cause the 15 payment of fees approved to be made payable to Melissa Newel or Newel Law (collectively 16 “Plaintiff’s counsel”), pursuant to the assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any and all payments 17 made shall be delivered to Plaintiff’s counsel by electronic transfer or by check. 18 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for EAJA 19 attorney fees and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of Defendant under 20 EAJA. Payment of the agreed amount shall constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any 21 and all claims that Plaintiff and/or Plaintiff’s counsel may have relating to EAJA attorney fees 22 and expenses in connection with this action. 23 /// 24 /// 25 /// 26 /// 27 /// 28 /// 1 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Plaintiff’s counsel to seek Social Security 2 Act attorney fees under

(b), subject to the provisions of the EAJA.

3 Respectfully submitted, 4 Dated: January 13, 2025 NEWEL LAW 5

6 By: Melissa Newel 7 Melissa Newel Attorney for Plaintiff 8 JOHNNY RAY GILDER, JR.

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10 Dated: January 13, 2025 PHILLIP A. TALBERT United States Attorney 11 MATHEW W. PILE Associate General Counsel 12 Office of Program Litigation, Office 7 Social Security Administration 13

14 By: Justin L. Martin* JUSTIN L. MARTIN 15 (*Authorized by email dated 01/13/2025) Special Assistant U.S. Attorney 16 Attorneys for Defendant 17 18 ORDER 19 Based upon the parties’ Stipulation and Unopposed Motion for the Award and Payment of 20 Equal Access to Justice Act Fees and Expenses (the “Stipulation”) (Doc. 14), 21 IT IS ORDERED that fees and expenses in the amount of FIVE HUNDRED AND 22 NINETY-NINE DOLLARS AND THIRTY-TWO CENTS ($599.32) as authorized by the Equal 23 Access to Justice Act (EAJA),

(d) and costs in the amount of ZERO dollars 24 ($0.00) under

, be awarded subject to the terms of the Stipulation. 25 IT IS SO ORDERED. 26 27 Dated: January 14, 2025 /s/ Sheila K. Oberto . UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 28