1 Francesco Benavides, CSBN 258924 2 Law Offices of Francesco Benavides 1990 N. California Blvd. 8th Floor 3 Walnut Creek, CA 94596 4 Tel: (925) 222-7071 Email: [email protected] 5

6 Attorney for Plaintiff JOCELYN HERNANDEZ 7

8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 FRESNO DIVISION 11

12 JOCELYN HERNANDEZ, Case No. 1:24-cv-01583-GSA 13 Plaintiff, STIPULATION FOR THE AWARD AND 14 PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES AND 15 v. EXPENSES PURSUANT TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT; 16 FRANK BISIGNANO, ORDER 17 Commissioner of Social Security,

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 $8,000.00, under the Equal Access to 22 Justice Act (EAJA),

(d), and no costs under

. This 23 amount represents compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of Plaintiff by 24 counsel in connection with this civil action, in accordance with

(d), 25 1920. 26 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Plaintiff, the government will 27 consider the matter of Plaintiff’s assignment of EAJA fees to counsel. Pursuant to 1 Astrue v. Ratliff,

,

,

(2010), the ability 2 to honor the assignment will depend on whether the fees are subject to any offset 3 allowed under the United States Department of the Treasury’s Offset Program. After 4 the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine whether they are 5 subject to any offset. 6 Fees shall be made payable to Plaintiff, but if the Department of the Treasury 7 determines that Plaintiff does not owe a federal debt, then the government shall cause 8 the payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made directly to Plaintiff’s counsel, 9 Francesco Benavides, pursuant to the assignment executed by Plaintiff. 10 Payments may be made by electronic funds transfer (EFT) or by check. 11 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for 12 EAJA attorney fees and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of 13 Defendant under the EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall 14 constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any and all claims that Plaintiff and/or 15 Francesco Benavides, including the Law Offices of Francesco Benavides, may have 16 relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection with this action. 17 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Francesco Benavides to seek 18 Social Security Act attorney fees under

(b), subject to the savings 19 clause provisions of the EAJA. 20

21 Respectfully submitted, 22

23 Dated: June 3, 2025 Law Offices of Francesco Benavides 24 By: /s/ Francesco Benavides 25 FRANCESCO P. BENAVIDES 26 Attorney for Plaintiff

27 1

2 Dated: June 3, 2025 MICHELE BECKWITH 3 Acting United States Attorney 4 MATHEW W. PILE Associate General Counsel 5 Social Security Administration 6 By: David Priddy* 7 DAVID PRIDDY 8 Special Assistant U.S. Attorney 9 Attorneys for Defendant (*Permission to use electronic signature 10 obtained via email on June 3, 2025). 11

12 ORDER 13 Based upon the parties’ Stipulation for the Award and Payment of Equal Access 14 15 to Justice Act Fees and Expenses, IT IS ORDERED that fees and expenses in the 16 amount of $8,000.00 as authorized by

, and no costs under 28 U.S.C. 17 § 1920, be awarded subject to the terms of the Stipulation. 18 19 IT IS SO ORDERED. 20

21 Dated: June 4, 2025 /s/ Gary S. Austin UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 22 23

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