Zachery John Moore 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, Zachery John Moore 7

8 FRESNO DIVISION 11 12 Zachery John Moore, Case No. 1:23-cv-01640-WBS-CDB

13 Plaintiff, STIPULATION FOR THE AWARD v. FEES AND EXPENSES PURSUANT 16 Commissioner of Social Security, JUSTICE ACT; |PROPOSED| ORDER

17 Defendant. 18 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties through their 19 undersigned counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Plaintiff be awarded 20 attorney fees and expenses in the amount of SEVEN THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED 21 DOLLARS AND 00/100 ($7,500.00) under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 22 U.S.C. § 2412(d), and costs in the amount of ZERO dollars ($0.00) under 28 U.S.C. 23 §1920. This amount represents compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of 24 Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. 25 §§ 1920, 2412(d). 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, 560 U.S. 586, 598, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 177 L.Ed.2d 91 (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 Counsel, pursuant to 9 the assignment executed by Plaintiff. Any payments made shall be delivered and 10 made payable to Plaintiff’s counsel, Jonathan O. Peña. Additionally, any payment of 11 costs under 28 U.S.C. §1920 may be made either by electronic fund transfer (EFT) or 12 by check. 13 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Plaintiff’s request for 14 EAJA attorney fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of 15 Defendant under the EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall 16 constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any and all claims that Plaintiff and/or 17 Counsel including Counsel’s firm may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in 18 connection with this action. 19 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Counsel and/or Counsel’s firm 20 to seek Social Security Act attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the 21 savings clause provisions of the EAJA. 22 Respectfully submitted, 23

24 Dated: August 20, 2024 /s/ Jonathan O. Peña 25 J ONATHAN O. PEÑA Attorney for Plaintiff 26

27 Dated: August 20, 2024 PHILLIP A. TALBERT 1 United States Attorney MATHEW W. PILE 2 Associate General Counsel Office of Program Litigation 3 Social Security Administration 4 By: _*_Caspar I. Chan 5 Caspar I. Chan 6 Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Attorneys for Defendant 7 (*Permission to use electronic signature 8 obtained via email on August 20, 2024). 9

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 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’”), 5 IT IS ORDERED that fees and expenses in the amount of SEVEN THOUSAND 6 7 | FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS AND 00/100 ($7,500.00) as authorized by the Equal 8 || Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) and costs in the amount of ZERO 9 dollars ($0.00) under 28 U.S.C. §1920, be awarded subject to the terms of the 10 11 || Stipulation. 12 | IT IS SO ORDERED. oo 13 oh blew A, h.teE— Dated: December 9, 2025 WILLIAM B. SHUBB 14 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 _4-