# In the United States Court of Federal Claims

OFFICE OF SPECIAL MASTERS No. 20

- 0624 V (not to be published)

EMILEE PLETCHER

,

Petitioner,

v.

SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES,

Respondent. Chief Special Master Corcoran

Filed: March 16, 2022

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

Anne Carrion Toale, Maglio Christopher & Toale, PA, Sarasota, FL , 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 May 20, 2020

, Emilee Pletcher 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 shoulder injury related to vaccine
administration as a result of an influenza vaccination received on December 17, 2018

. (Petit ion at 1 ). On December 8, 2021

, a decision was issued awarding compensation to

P etitioner based on the Respondent’s proffer

. (ECF No. 39 )

.

1 Because this unpublished D ecision contains a reasoned explanation for the action in this case, I am required to post it on the United States Court of Federal Claims' website in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 per tinent subpara graph of 42 U.S.C. § 300aa (2012 ).2 Petitioner has now filed a motion for attorney’s fees and costs, dated February 2,
2022 (ECF No. 44 ) , requesting a total award of $ 55,601.06 (representing $ 54,151.20 in fees and $ 1,449.86 in costs). In accordance with General Order No. 9, Petitioner filed a signed statement indicating that she incurred no out

- of

- pocket expenses. (ECF No. 44

- 3 )

. Respondent reacted to the motion on February 2, 2022, indicating that he is satisfied that the statutory requirements for an award of attorney’s fees and costs are met in t his

case
, but deferring resolution of the amount to be awarded at the Court’s d iscretion

. (ECF

No. 46 ). On February 2, 2022

, P etitioner filed a reply requesting the full amount of fees

and costs be awarded

. (ECF No. 46 )

.

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 $ 55,601.06 (representing $ 54,151.20 in fees and $ 1,449.86 in costs) as a lump sum in the form of a check jointly payable to Petitioner and Petitioner’s counsel

. Petitioner requests the check be forwarded to mct law, 1605 M a in Street, S u ite 710

, Saras ota, Flori da, 34236

. In the absence of a timely

- filed motion for review (see Ap pendix 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.