# In the United States Court of Federal Claims

OFFICE OF SPECIAL MASTERS

No. 19

- 1655 V (not to be published)

JANICE BYRD

,

Petitioner,

v.

SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES,

Respondent. Chief Special Master Corcoran

Filed: August 6, 2021

Special Processing Unit (SPU);
Attorney’s Fees and Costs

David John Carney, Green & Schafle LLC, Philadelphia, PA , for P etitioner.

Lauren Kells , U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for R espondent.

DECISION ON ATTORNEY ’ S FEES AND COSTS 1

On October 25, 2019, Janice Byrd filed a petition for compensation under the
National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, 42 U.S.C. §300aa

- 10, et seq. 2 (the
“Vaccine Act”)

. Petitioner alleges that she suffered the “table injury” of Guillain

- Barre
Syndrome as a result of her October 27, 2016 influenza vaccination. ( Petition at ¶¶ 1, 12 )

. On May 27, 2021

, a decision was issued awarding compensation to P etitioner based on the Respondent’s proffer

. (ECF No. 4 5 )

.

1 Because this unpublished D ecision contains a reasoned explanation for the action in this case, I am required to post it on the United States Court of Federal Claims' website in accordance with the E

Government Act of 2002. 44 U.S.C. § 3501 note (2012) (Federal Management and Promotion of Electronic Government Services). This means the D ecision will be available to anyone with access to the

internet. In accordance with Vaccine Rule 18(b), Petitioner has 14 days to identify and move to redact medical or other information, the disclosure of which would constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy. If, upon review, I agree that the identified material fits within this definition, I will redact such material from public access.

2 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, Pub. L. No. 99

- 660, 100 Stat. 3755. Hereinafter, for ease of citation, all “§” references to the Vaccine Act will be to the pert inent subparagraph of 42 U.S.C. § 300aa (2012).2 Petitioner has now filed a motion for attorney’s fees and costs, dated July 11 , 2021
(ECF No. 50 ) , requesting a n award of $ 22,180.50 in attorney’s fees and costs for attorney

David Carney at Green & Schafle, LLC

. Petitioner also requests attorney’s fees and costs
for prior attorney Kate Westad. Ms. Westad switched law firms twice during these proceedings, incurring $ 15,272.53 in attorney’s fees and costs at Larkin Hoffman Law
Firm and $ 14,630.03 in attorney’s fees and costs at SiebenCarey, P.A. (Id. at 3

- 4). In

accordance with General Order No. 9, Petitioner filed a signed statement indicating that

she incurred no out

- of

- pocket expenses. ( Id. at 27). Respondent rea cted to the motion on
July 26

, 2021 indicating that he d oes not oppose Petitioner ’ s motion as the amou nt
requested is a reasonable amount to have been incurred in this case. (ECF No. 51 ).
Petitioner did not file a reply thereafter

.

I have reviewed the billing records submitted with P etitioner’s request. In my experience , the request appears reasonable, and I find no cause to reduce the requested

hours or rates.

The Vaccine Act permits an award of reasonable attorney ’ s fees and costs

. Section
15(e). Accordingly, I hereby GRANT Petitioner’s Motion for attorney ’ s fees and costs as
follows:

• A lump sum of $ 22,180.50 , representing reimbursement for attorneys’ fees and costs, in the form of a check payable jointly to P etitioner and

P etitioner’s counsel, Green & Schafle, LLC ;

• A lump sum of $ 15,272.53 , representing reimbursement for attorneys’ fees and costs, in the form of a check payable jointly to P etitioner an d

Larkin Hoffman Law Firm ; and

• A lump sum of $ 14,630.03 , representing reimbursement for attorneys’
fees and costs, in the form of a ch eck payable jointly to P etitioner and SiebenCarey, P.A

.

In the absence of a timely

- filed motion for review (see Appendix B to the Rules of
the Court), the Clerk shall enter judgment in accordance with this decision. 3

IT IS SO ORDERED.

s/ Brian H. Corcoran

Brian H. Corcoran Chief Special Master

3 Pursuant to Vaccine Rule 11(a), the parties may expedite entry of judgment by filing a joint notice renouncing their right to seek review.