# In the United States Court of Federal Claims

OFFICE OF SPECIAL MASTERS

No. 12

- 316 V

Filed: August 18, 2014

Not for P ublication

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JESSICA L. WEPPLER

, *

*

Petitioner

, * Attorneys’ fees and costs decision b ased on

* s tipulation of f

act

v. *

*

SECRETARY OF HEALTH *

AND HUMAN SERVICES, *

*

Respondent. *

*

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Michael G. McLaren

, Memphis, TN

, for petitioner.

Jennifer L. Reynaud , Washington, DC, for respondent.

MILLMAN, Special Master

DECISION AWARDING ATTORNEYS ’ FEES AND COSTS 1

On August 18 , 2014 , the parties filed a stipulation of fact in which they agreed on an

appropriate amount for attorneys’ fees and costs in this case

.

I n accordance with t he General Order #9 r equiremen t, petitioner assert s that s he did not

incur any co sts in pursuit of her petition. Petitioner filed her application for attorne ys’ fees and

c osts on July 10, 2014

. On July 25, 2 014, the undersigned issued an O rder denying any award of

fees or costs pertaining to work performed by petitioner ’ s ex pert, James. F. Murphy. During

1 Because this unpublished decision contains a reasoned explanation f or the special master’ s action in this

case, the special master intends to post this unpublished decision on the United States Court of Federal

Claims’ s website, in accordance with the E

- Government Act of 2002, Pub. L. No. 107

- 347, 116 Stat. 2899,

2913 (Dec. 17, 2002). Vaccine Rule 18(b) states that all decisions of the special master s will be made

available to the public unless they contain trade secrets or commercial or financial information that is

privileged and confidential, or medical or similar information whose disclosure would constitute a clearly

unwarranted invasion of priva cy. When such a decision is filed, petitioner has 14 days to identify and

move to redact such information prior to the document = s disclosure. If the special master, upon review,

agrees that the identified material fits within the banned categories listed above, the special master shall

redact such material from public access.2

informal discussions, respondent ra ised objections t o certain other items in petitioner’ s

application

. Based on these objections and the July 25 , 2014 Order , petitioner a mend s her

application for attor ne ys’ fees and costs to $ 3 8 ,000.00

. Respondent does not object to this

amount. The undersigned finds this amount to be reasonable. Accordingly, the court awards

$ 3 8 ,000.00 , representing reimbursement for attorneys’ fees and costs. The award shall be in the

form of a chec k payable jointly to petitioner and B lack, Mc L aren, Jones, Ryland, & Griffee , P.C.

in the amount of $ 3 8 ,000.00

.

In the absence of a motion for review filed pursuant to RCFC Appendix B, the clerk of the

court is directed to enter judgment herewith. 2

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: August 18, 2014 s/ Laura D. Millman

by Nora Beth Dorsey

Laura D. Millman

Special Master

2 Pursuant to Vaccine Rule 11(a), entry of judgment can be expedited by each party , either separately or

jointly, filing a notice renouncing the right to seek review.