(SS) Her v. Commissioner of Social Security

Opinion

1 Jonathan O. Peña, Esq. 2 CA Bar ID No.: 278044 Peña & Bromberg, PLC 3 3467 W. Shaw Ave., Ste 100 4 Fresno, CA 93711 Telephone: 559-439-9700 5 Facsimile: 559-439-9723 6 Email: info@jonathanpena.com Attorney for Plaintiff, Yang Yee Her 7

8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA FRESNO DIVISION 11 12 YANG YEE HER, Case No. 1:23-cv-01478-WBS-BAM

13 Plaintiff, STIPULATION FOR THE AWARD 14 AND PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY v. FEES AND EXPENSES PURSUANT 15 TO THE EQUAL ACCESS TO 16 LELAND DUDEK1, Acting JUSTICE ACT; ORDER Commissioner of 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 FOUR THOUSAND SIX-HUNDRED 22 FORTY-SEVEN DOLLARS and 78/100 ($4,647.78) under the Equal Access to Justice 23 Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), and costs in the amount of zero dollars ($0.00) under 24 28 U.S.C. §1920. This amount represents compensation for all legal services rendered 25 26 1 Leland Dudek became the Acting Commissioner of Social Security in February 27 2025. Pursuant to Rule 25(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Court substitutes Leland Dudek as the defendant in this suit. 1 on behalf of Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action, in accordance with 2 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920, 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, 560 U.S. 586, 598, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 177 L.Ed.2d 91 (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 28 U.S.C. §1920 may be made either by electronic fund transfer (EFT) 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 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the 25 savings clause provisions of the EAJA. 26 Respectfully submitted, 27 1 Dated: July 15, 2024 /s/ Jonathan O. Peña 2 J ONATHAN O. PEÑA Attorney for Plaintiff 3

4 Dated: July 15, 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: _*_Noah Schabacker 10 Noah Schabacker Special Assistant U.S. Attorney 11 Attorneys for Defendant 12 (*Permission to use electronic signature obtained via email on July 15, 2024). 13

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 ORDER 2 3 Based upon the parties’ Stipulation for the Award and Payment of Equal Access 4 || to Justice Act Fees and Expenses (the “Stipulation’”), IT IS ORDERED that fees and expenses in the amount of FOUR THOUSAND

7 SIX-HUNDRED FORTY-SEVEN DOLLARS and 78/100 ($4,647.78) as authorized by 8 || the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), be awarded subject to the terms of the Stipulation.

11 || Dated: March 20, 2025 oh hea a. (et. WILLIAM B. SHUBB 12 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 _4-