# In the United States Court of Federal Claims

OFFICE OF SPECIAL MASTERS

No. 1 4

- 0731 V

Filed: March 15, 2016

U NPUBLISHED

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
P ANSY DOWNS

, *

*
Petitioner, *

v. *

* Attorney s’ Fees and Costs;

SECRETARY OF HEALTH * Special Processing Unit (“SPU”)

AND HUMAN SERVICES

, *

* Respondent. *

*
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Ronald Homer , Conway, Homer & Chin

- Caplan, P.C., Boston, M.A.

, for petitioner

. Michael Milmoe

, U

. S

. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for respondent.

D ECISION ON ATTORNEY S’ FEES AND COSTS 1

Dorsey

, Chief Special Master:

On August 13 , 2014

, Pansy Downs filed a petition for compensation under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, 42 U.S.C. §300aa

- 10, et seq

. , 2 [ the

“Vaccine Act” or “Program”]. Peti tioner alleged that s he suffered an injection

- related left

shoulder injury which was caused in fact by the influenza vaccine she received on October 10, 2011 . Petit ion at 1 , 7

. On October 6, 2015

, the undersigned issued a decision awarding compensation to petitioner based on r espondent ’ s proffer to which petitioner agreed

. ECF No. 31

.

On February 10, 2016

, petitioner filed an application f or attorneys’ fees and

costs. ECF No. 36 . Petitioner requests attorneys’ fees in the amount of $ 2 0,258.80

,

1 Because this unpublished decision contains a reasoned explanation for the action in this case, the undersigned intends to post it on the United States Court of Federal Claims' website, in accordance wi th

the E

- Government Act of 2002. 44 U.S.C. § 3501 note (2012) (Federal Management and Promotion of

Electronic Government Services). 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, the undersigned agrees tha t the identified material fits within this definition, the undersigned 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

attorneys’ costs in the amount of $ 1 ,370.46 , and petitioner’s costs in the amount of $ 4 .48 for a total amount of $ 2 1,633.74

. Id. at 1

. In compliance with General Order #9, petitioner has filed a signed statement indicating petitioner incurred $ 4 .48 in out

- of

pocket expenses. ECF No. 37. R espondent has not filed a respons e to petitioner’s application.

The undersigned fully agree s with the McCulloch analysis regarding appropriate hourly rates for the attorneys in the Conway, Homer, and Chi n

- Caplan law firm and adopt s the same reasoning in this case

.

The Vaccine Act permits an award of reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs. § 15(e). Based on the reasonableness of petitioner’s request , the undersigned

GRANTS petitioner’s application for attorneys’ fees and costs. 3

Accordingly , the undersigned awards the total of $ 2 1,633.74 4 as follows:

 A lump sum of $ 2 1,629.26 , representing reimbursement for attorneys’ fees and costs, in the form of a check payable jointly to petitioner and petitioner’s counsel

, Conway, Homer & Chin

- Caplan,

P.C .; and

 A lump sum of $ 4 .48 , representing reimbursement for petitioner’s costs, in the form of a check payable to petitioner

.

T he clerk of the court shall enter judgment in accordance herewith. 5

IT IS SO ORDERED.

s/Nora Beth Dorsey

Nora Beth Dorsey Chief Special Master

3 In other cases

, the undersigned has reduced attorney s’ fees where multiple attorneys worked on a file. The undersigned finds the overall amount to be reasonable given the circumstances in this case and thus, will not reduce the amount of fees sought. Howev er, the practice of having multiple attorney s work on a file is discouraged and may result in a reduction in fees in other cases.

4 This amount is intended to cover all legal expenses incurred in this matter. This award encompasses all

char ges by the attorney against a client, “advanced costs” as well as fees for legal services rendered. Furthermore, § 15(e)(3) prevents an attorney from charging or collecting fees (including costs) that would

be in addition to the amount awarded herein. See generally Beck v. Sec’y of Health & Human Servs.

, 924 F. 2d 1029 (Fed. Cir.1991).

5 Pursuant to Vaccine Rule 11(a), entry of judgment can be expedited by the parties’ joint filing of notice renouncing the right to seek review.