# In the United States Court of Federal Claims

OFFICE OF SPECIAL MASTERS

No. 20

- 1780 V (not to be published)

GEORGE POTAK

,

Petitioner,

v.

SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES,

Respondent. Chief Special Master Corcoran

Filed: September 28, 2021

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

Maximillian J. Muller, Muller Brazil, LLP, Dresher, PA , for P etitioner.

Tyler King , U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for R espondent.

DECISION ON ATTORNEY ’ S FEES AND COSTS 1

On December 7, 2020, George Potak (“ P etitioner ”) 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 suffered Guillain

- Barré

syndrome as a result of an influenza vaccine administered to him on December 18, 2018.

( Petition at 1 )

. On June 16 , 2021

, a decision was issued awarding compensation to

P etitioner based on the Respondent’s proffer

. (ECF No. 21 )

.

1 Because this unpublished D ecision contains a reasoned explanation for the action in this case, I am required to post it on the United States Court of Federal Claims' website in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 August 1 6

, 2021, (ECF No. 26 )

, requesting a total award of $ 17,978.71 (representing $ 17,326.50 in

fees and $ 652.21 in costs). In accordance with General Order No. 9, counsel for Petitioner

represents that Petitioner incurred no out

- of

- pocket expenses . ( Id. at 2 ). Respondent

reacted to the motion on August 2 7

, 2021, 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

resolution of the amount to be awarded to my discretion

. (ECF No

. 27 ). 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

. Section

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

award a total of $17,978.71 (representing $17,326.50 in fees and $652.21 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 sh all 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.