# In the United States Court of Federal Claims

OFFICE OF SPECIAL MASTERS
No. 19

- 0550 V (not to be published)

JASMINE VEGA

,

Petitioner,

v.

SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES,

Respondent. Chief Special Master Corcoran

Filed: August 29, 2022

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

Leah VaSahnja Durant, Law Offices of Leah V. Durant, PLLC, Washington, DC , for
P etitioner.

Kimberly Shubert Davey , U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for R espondent.

DECISION ON ATTORNEY ’ S FEES AND COSTS 1

On April 15, 2019

, Jasmine Vega 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 suffered a left shoulder injury related to vaccine

administration as a result of an influenza vaccine received on September 22, 2017

. ( Petition at 1 )

. On January 26, 2022

, a decision was issued awarding compensation to

P etitioner based on the parties’ stipulation

. (ECF No. 34

. )

1 Because this unpublished D ecision contains a reasoned explanation for the action in this case, I am required to post it on the United States Court of Federal Claims' website in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 section references to the Vaccine Act will be to the pertinent subpara graph of 42 U.S.C. § 300aa (2012 ).2 Petitioner has now filed a motion for attorney’s fees and costs, dated July 25, 2022 (ECF No. 39 ) , requesting a total award of $ 35,414.57 (representing $ 33,711.20 in fees and $ 1,703.37 in costs). In accordance with General Order No. 9, Petitioner filed a signed

statement indicating that she incurred no out

- of

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

reacted to the motion on July 26, 2022, indicating that he is satisfied that the statutory requirements for an award of attorney’s fees and costs are met in this case

, but deferring

resolution of the amount to be awarded at the Court’s discretion

. (ECF No. 40 ). On July
27, 2022

, P etitioner filed a reply requesting “ that the Court award petitioner all fees and costs requested in Petitioner’s Application

. ” (ECF No. 41 )

.

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

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

award a total of $ 35,414.57 (representing $ 33,711.20 in fees and $ 1,703.37 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 dec ision. 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 j oint notice renouncing their right to seek review.