# In the United States Court of Federal Claims

OFFICE OF SPECIAL MASTERS
No. 19

- 0120 V (not to be published)

ZAHRA ADEN

,

Petitioner,

v.

SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES,

Respondent. Chief Special Master Corcoran

Filed: November 20, 2020

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

John Robert Howie, Howie Law, PC, Dallas, TX , for P etitioner.

Althea Walker Davis , U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for R espondent.

DECISION ON ATTORNEY ’ S FEES AND COSTS 1

On January 23, 2019 , Zahra Aden 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 a shoulder injury related to vaccine administration after receiving a Tdap vaccination on May 19, 2017

. ( Petition at 1 )

. On

October 8, 2020

, a decision was issued awarding compensation to P etitioner based on the parties’ stipulation

. (ECF No. 30 )

.

1 Because this unpublished D ecision contains a reasoned explanation for the action in this case, I am required to post it on the United States Court of Federal Claims' website in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 subpara graph of 42 U.S.C. § 300aa (2012 ).2 Petitioner has now filed a motion for attorney’s fees and costs, dated November 4,

2020

, (ECF No. 34 ) , requesting a total award of $ 18,863.31 (representing $ 18,364.60 in fees and $ 498.71 in costs). In accordance with General Order #9

, Petitioner filed a signed

statement indicating Petitioner i ncurred no out

- of

- pocket expenses. (ECF No. 34

- 4 )

. Respondent reacted to the motion on November 16, 2020 indicating that he is satisfied that the statutory requirements for an award of attorney’s fees and costs are met in this
case and defers to the Co urt’s discretion to determine the amount to be awarded. (ECF No. 36). On November 16, 2020

, P etitioner filed a reply stating they did not intend to file a substantive reply

. (ECF No. 37 )

.

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

. § 15(e). Accordingly, I hereby GRANT Petitioner’s Motion for attorney ’ s fees and costs. I

award a total of $ 18,863.31 (representing $ 18,364.60 in fees and $ 498.71 in costs) as a lump sum in the form of a check jointly payable to Petitioner and Petitioner’s counsel

. 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 dec ision. 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.