# In the United States Court of Federal Claims

OFFICE OF SPECIAL MASTERS

No. 18

- 1745 V (not to be published)

MELANIE HENRY

,

Petitioner,

v.

SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES,

Respondent. Chief Special Master Corcoran

Filed: January 15, 2021

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

Howard Scott Gold, Gold Law Firm, LLC, Wellesley Hills, MA , for P etitioner.

Ida Nassar , U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for R espondent.

DECISION ON ATTORNEY ’ S FEES AND COSTS 1

On November 9, 2018

, Melanie Henry 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 developed frozen shoulder and brachial neuritis

as a result of an influenza vaccine that was administered on November 13, 20 15

. ( Petition

at 1 )

. On December 21, 2020

, a decision was issued awarding compensation to P etitioner

based on the parties’ stipulation

. (ECF No. 36 )

.

1 Because this unpublished D ecision contains a reasoned explanation for the action in this case, I am required to post it on the United States Court of Federal Claims' website in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) (Fe deral 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 December

24, 2020

, (ECF No. 40 ) , requesting a total award of $ 15 ,621.62

. (representing $ 15,131.00

in fees and $ 490.62 in costs). 3 In accordance with General Order No. 9 , counsel for

Petitioner represents that Petitioner incurred no out

- of

- pocket expenses. ( Id. at 1).

Respondent reacted to the motion on January 7, 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.

4 1 ). 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 $ 15,621.62 (representing $ 15,131.00 in fees and $ 490.62 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. 4

IT IS SO ORDERED.

s/ Brian H. Corcoran

Brian H. Corcoran
Chief Special Master

3 P etitioner r e quest ed the total amount of $16,112.24 , however fees and costs total the amount of $15,621.62.

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