# In the United States Court of Federal Claims

OFFICE OF SPECIAL MASTERS

No. 19

- 0576 V (not to be published)

JOHN ROGERS

,

Petitioner,

v.

SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES,

Respondent. Chief Special Master Corcoran

Filed : September 30, 2020

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

Bridget Candace McCullough, Muller Brazil, LLP, Dresher, PA , for P etitioner.

Colleen Clemons Hartley , U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for

R espondent.

DECISION ON ATTORNEY ’ S FEES AND COSTS 1

On April 17, 2019, John Rogers (“Petitioner”), 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 he suffe red a left shoulder injury related to

vaccine administration after receiving tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis an d
influenza vaccines on August 21, 2017. ( Petition at 1 )

. On July 6 , 2020

, a decision was

1 Because this unpublished D ecision contains a reasoned explanation for the action in this case, I am required to post it on the United States Court of Federal Claims' website in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 section references to the Vaccine Act will be to the pertinent subparagraph of 42 U.S.C. § 300aa (2012).2 issued awarding compensation to P etitioner based on the Respondent’s proffer

. (ECF

No. 27 )

.

Petitioner has now filed a motion for attorney’s fees and costs, dated September

10

, 2020 (ECF No. 3 4 ) , requesting a total award of $ 8,214.68 (representing $ 7,763.00 in
fees and $ 451.68 in costs). In accordance with General Order No. 9

, counsel for Petitione r represents that Petitioner incurred no out

- of

- pocket expenses ( Id . at 2 ). Respondent

reacted to the motion on September 10 , 2020

, indicating that he is satisfied that the
statutory requirements for an award of attorney’s fees and costs are met in this cas e and

defers to my discretion to determine the amount to be awarded (ECF No. 3 5 )

. By email
correspondence on September 10, 2020, counsel for Petitioner informed the staff
attorney’s office that Petitioner did not intent to file a reply. See Informal Remark

, September 10, 2020.

I have reviewed the billing records submitted with Petitioner’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 cos ts

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

award a total of $8,214.68 (representing $7,763.00 in fees and $451.68 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 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.