# In the United States Court of Federal Claims

OFFICE OF SPECIAL MASTERS

No. 17

- 1471V (not to be published)

PATRICIA PIAZZA

,

Petitioner,

v.

SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES,

Respondent. Chief Special Master Corcoran

Filed: May 19, 2020

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

Ronald Craig Homer, Conway, Homer, P.C., Boston, MA , for P etitioner.

Gabrielle Manganiello Fielding , U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for

R espondent.

DECISION ON ATTORNEY ’ S FEES AND COSTS 1

On October 6, 2017, Patricia Piazza

, (“ 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 s he suffered a shoulder injury related to

vaccine administration as a result of receiving an influenza vaccine on October 16, 2014

. ( Petition at 1 )

. On February 12, 2020

, a decision was issued awarding compensation to

P etitioner based on the parties’ stipulation

. ( ECF No. 75 ).

1 Because this unpublished D ecision contains a reasoned explanation for the action in this case, I am required to post it on the United States Court of Federal Claims' website in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 oth er 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 I njury 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 April 2 4

, 2020

, (ECF No. 80 ) , requesting a total award of $ 40,495.30 (representing $ 38,230.95 in
fees and $ 2,254.19 in costs). In accordance with General Order #9

, Petitioner filed a
signed statement indicating that Petitione r incurred $1 0

. 16 in out

- of

- pocket expenses.
(ECF No. 81 ). Respondent reacted to the motion on April 28 , 2020

, indicating that s 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. 82 ). Petitioner did not file a reply thereafter.

I have rev iewed 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 $40, 495.30 as follows:

• A lump sum of $40,485.14, representing reimbursement for fees and costs,
in the form of a check payable jointly to Petitioner and Petitioner’s counsel

and;

• A lump sum of $10.16, representing reimbursement for Petitioner’s costs,
in the form of a check payable to Petitioner.

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. 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.