# In the United States Court of Federal Claims

OFFICE OF SPECIAL MASTERS

No. 18

- 1657 V (not to be published)

KRISTINE RUCKER

- MORROW

,

Petitioner,

v.

SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES,

Respondent. Chief Special Master Corcoran

Filed: September 23, 2020

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

Edward M. Kraus, Law Offices of Chicago Kent, Chicago, IL , for P etitioner.

Dhairya Divyakant Jani , U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for R espondent.

DECISION ON ATTORNEY ’ S FEES AND COSTS 1

On October 26, 2018

, Kristine Rucker

- Morrow 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 Guillain

- Barré syndrome following the administration of a seasonal influenza vaccine on October 21, 2016

. ( Pet ition at 1 )

. On June 25, 2020

, a decision was issued awarding compensation to

P etitioner based on the Respondent’s proffer

. (ECF No. 41 )

.

1 Because this unpublished D ecision contains a reasoned explanation for the action in this case, I am required to post it on the United States Court of Federal Claims' website in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 pertinent subparagraph of 42 U.S.C. § 300aa (2012).2 Petitioner has now filed a motion for attorney’s fees and costs, dated September
1, 2020

, (ECF No. 41 ) , requesting a total award of $ 28,596.96 (representing $ 26,214.00
in fees and $ 2,382.96 in costs). In accordance with General Order #9

, counsel for

Petitioner represents that Petitioner incurred no out

- of

- pocket expenses. ( Id. at 2).
Respondent reacted to the motion on September 15, 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 Court’s discretion to determine the amount to be awarded

. (ECF
No. 42). 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

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

award a total of $ 28,596.96 (representing $ 26,214.00 in fees and $ 2,382.96 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.