1 Lawrence D. Rohlfing Attorney at Law: 119433 2 Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, Inc., CPC 12631 East Imperial Highway Suite C-115 3 Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670 Tel.: (562) 868-5886 4 Fax: (562) 868-8868 E-mail: rohlfing.office@rohlfinglaw.com 5 Attorneys for Plaintiff 6 Margarita M. Valenzuela

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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 MARGARITA M. VALENZUELA, ) Case No.: 1:25-cv-00860-BAM ) 12 Plaintiff, ) STIPULATION AND PROPOSED ) ORDER FOR THE AWARD AND 13 vs. ) PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES ) AND EXPENSES PURSUANT TO 14 FRANK BISIGNANO, ) THE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE Commissioner of Social Security, ) ACT, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) AND 15 ) COSTS PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § Defendant. ) 1920; DECLARATION OF Lawrence 16 ) D. Rohlfing ) 17 18 TO THE HONORABLE BARBARA A. MCAULIFFE, MAGISTRATE 19 JUDGE OF THE DISTRICT COURT: 20 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED, by and between the parties through their 21 undersigned counsel, subject to the approval of the Court, that Margarita M. 22 Valenzuela (“Valenzuela”) be awarded attorney fees and expenses in the amount of 23 five thousand five hundred twenty dollars ($5,520.00) under the Equal Access to 24 Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), and no costs under 28 U.S.C. § 1920. 25 This amount represents compensation for all legal services rendered on behalf of 26 1 Plaintiff by counsel in connection with this civil action, in accordance with 28 2 U.S.C. §§ 1920; 2412(d). 3 After the Court issues an order for EAJA fees to Valenzuela, the 4 government will consider the matter of Valenzuela's assignment of EAJA fees to 5 Lawrence D. Rohlfing. The retainer agreement containing the assignment is 6 attached as exhibit 1. Pursuant to Astrue v. Ratliff, 130 S.Ct. 2521, 2529 (2010), 7 the ability to honor the assignment will depend on whether the fees are subject to 8 any offset allowed under the United States Department of the Treasury's Offset 9 Program. After the order for EAJA fees is entered, the government will determine 10 whether they are subject to any offset. 11 Fees shall be made payable to Valenzuela, but if the Department of the 12 Treasury determines that Valenzuela does not owe a federal debt, then the 13 government shall cause the payment of fees, expenses and costs to be made 14 directly to Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, Inc., CPC, pursuant to the 15 assignment executed by Valenzuela.1 Any payments may be made by check or 16 electronic fund transfer (EFT) and shall be delivered to the Law offices of 17 Lawrence D. Rohlfing, Inc. 18 This stipulation constitutes a compromise settlement of Valenzuela's request

19 for EAJA attorney fees, and does not constitute an admission of liability on the part 20 of Defendant under the EAJA or otherwise. Payment of the agreed amount shall 21 constitute a complete release from, and bar to, any and all claims that Valenzuela 22 and/or Lawrence D. Rohlfing including Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, 23 Inc., CPC may have relating to EAJA attorney fees in connection with this action. 24

25 1 The parties do not stipulate whether counsel for the plaintiff has a cognizable lien under federal law against the recovery of EAJA fees that survives the Treasury 26 1 This award is without prejudice to the rights of Lawrence D. Rohlfing and/or 2 the Law Offices of Lawrence D. Rohlfing, Inc., CPC to seek Social Security Act 3 attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), subject to the savings clause provisions of 4 the EAJA. 5 DATE: December 17, 2025 Respectfully submitted, 6 LAW OFFICES OF LAWRENCE D. ROHLFING, INC., CPC

7 /s/ Lawrence D. Rohlfing2

BY: _________________________

8 Lawrence D. Rohlfing Attorney for plaintiff Margarita M. Valenzuela 9

10 DATED: December 17, 2025 MICHELE BECKWITH 11 Acting United States Attorney 12 MATHEW W. PILE Associate General Counsel 13 Social Security Administration

14 /s/ Marcelo N. Illarmo 15

16 MARCELO N. ILLARMO Special Assistant United States Attorney 17 Attorneys for Defendant FRANK BISIGNANO, Commissioner of Social 18 Security (Per e-mail authorization)

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25 2 Counsel for the plaintiff attests that all other signatories listed, and on whose behalf the filing is submitted, concur in the filing’s content and have authorized the 26 1 ORDER

2 Pursuant to the parties’ stipulation, Margarita M. Valenzuela is awarded 3 attorney fees and expenses in the amount of five thousand five hundred twenty 4 dollars ($5,520.00) under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 5 2412(d), and no costs under 28 U.S.C. § 1920 pursuant to the terms of the 6 stipulation. 7

IT IS SO ORDERED.

8 Dated: December 30, 2025 /s/ Barbara A. McAuliffe _ 9

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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