# In the United States Court of Federal Claims

OFFICE OF SPECIAL MASTERS

No. 14

- 471 V

Filed: November 25 , 2015

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * PUBLISHED

CARIE BROWN, parent of K.B., a minor, *

* Special Master Hamilton

- Fieldman

Petitioner, *

*

v. * Attorneys’ Fees and Costs;

* Contested; McCulloch Hourly

SECRETARY OF HEALTH * Rates; Hours Expended.

AND HUMAN SERVICES, *

*

Respondent. *

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

Ronald Homer

, Conway, Homer & Chin

- Caplan, P.C.

, Boston, MA, for Petitioner.

Debra Begley , United States Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for Respondent.

DECISION 1

On June 4, 2014, Carie Brown (“Petitioner”) filed a petition on behalf of her minor son,

K.B., pursuant to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. 2 42 U.S.C. §§ 300aa

- 1 to

- 34 (2006). Petitioner alleged that the administration of an influenza (“flu”) vaccine on October

14, 2011, and a Hepatitis A (“hep A”) vaccine on November 18, 2011, caused K.B. to suffer

from Guillain

- Barré syndrome (“GBS”). On March 19 , 2015, the unders igned issued a decision

awarding compensation to Petitioner. J udgment entered on the decision on March 27 , 2015.

On August 7 , 2015, P etitioner’ s counsel filed a motion seeking reimbursement for

$15,206.37 in attorneys’ fees a nd $2,585.34 in attorneys’ costs. Petitioner’s counsel verified that

Petitioner had not personally incurred any costs in pursuit of her claim. See General Order #9

1 Because this unpublished decision contains a reasoned explanation for the action in this case, the

undersigned intends to post this decision on the United States Court of Federal Claims’ website, in

accordance with the E

- Government Act of 2002, Pub. L. No . 107

- 347, § 205, 116 Stat. 2899, 2913

(codified as amended at 44 U.S.C. § 3501 and note (2006)). In accordance with Vaccine Rule 18(b), a

party has 14 days to identify and move to delete medical or other information, that satisfies the criteria in

§ 300a a

- 12(d)(4)(B). Further, consistent with the rule requirement, a motion for redaction must include a

proposed redacted decision. If, upon review, the undersigned agrees that the identified material fits

within the requirements of that provision, such mate rial will be deleted from public access.

2 The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program is set forth in Part 2 of the National Childhood

Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, Pub. L. No. 99

- 660, 100 Stat. 3755, codified as amended, 42 U.S.C. §§

300aa

- 1 to

- 34 (2006) (Vaccine Act or the Act). All citati ons in this decision to individual sections of the

Vaccine Act are to 42 U.S.C.A. § 300aa.2 Statement, filed August 7, 2015.

On August 11, 2015, Respondent filed a motion to stay th e proceedings pending the

undersigned’s issuance of a decision in Houck v. Sec’y of Health & Human Servs. , No. 11

- 509V,

which, Respondent argued, i nvolved contested issues identical to those in the instant case.

Petitioner objected to any suspension of th e proceedings. See Petitioner’s Objections to

Respondent’s Motion to Suspend Proceedings, filed August 17, 2015.

On October 16, 2015, Petitioner’s counsel filed an amended motion for fees and costs.

Although Petitioner’s counsel amended his application to reflect the rates approved in

McCulloch v. Sec’y of Health & Human Servs.

, No. 09

- 293V, 2015 WL 5634323 (Fed. Cl. Spec.

Mstr. Sept. 1, 2015), mot. for reconsid

. denied , 2015 WL 6181910 (Fed. Cl. Spec. Mstr. Sept. 21

2015), the substance of the application otherwise remained unchanged. Petitioner’s counsel

applied for attorne ys’ fees amounting to $15,267.37 and attorneys’ costs amounting to $2,585.34.

The total amount requested was $17,852.71

.

On October 20, 2015, the undersigned convened a s tatus confe rence to discuss counsel’s

pending fees and costs application. During the status conference, the undersigned infor med the

parties that she intended to compensate Mr. Homer and his firm’s staff at the rates that were

awarded in McCulloch , and th at counsel’s amended application would be granted in full. See

Order, filed October 21, 2015, at 1

- 2. The undersigned directed Petitioner’s counsel to dr aft a

decision that incorporated the McCulloch rates and awarded compensation for the full amount of

requested fees and costs. Petitioner’s counsel filed his draft on October 27, 2015. On November

5 , 2015, Respondent’s counsel communicated informally to the undersigned’s staff that

Respondent does not intend to file a response to Petitioner’s draft. Th is matter is now ripe for a

decision.

The Vaccine Act permits an award of reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs. 42 U.S.C. §

300 aa

- 15(e). The undersigned acknowledges Respondent’s continued objections to the

McCulloch rates but remains in agreement with McCulloch ’s outcome. Based on the

reasonableness of P etitioner ’ s request, the undersigned GRANTS P etitioner ’ s amended request

for payment of attorneys’ fees and costs in full. Respondent’s pending motion to stay is

DENIED as moot.

In additio n, the undersigned awards compensation for 1.5 hours of attorney time,

expended by Christina Ciampolillo at an hourly rate of $300.00, for her preparation for the

substantive status conference held on October 20, 2015, and for the submission of a draft decision

on attorneys’ fees and costs. This amounts to an additional $450.00.

Accordingly, the undersigned awards:

A lump sum of $18,302.71

, representing reimbursement for attorneys’ fees

and costs, in the form of a check payable jointly to P etitioner, Carie Brown

, and P etitioner ’ s counsel, Mr. Ronald Homer, of the law firm of Conway,3 Homer & Chin

- Caplan, P.C.

In the absence of a motion for review filed pursuant to RCFC Appendix B, t he clerk of

the court shall enter judgment in accordance herewith. 3

IT IS SO ORDERED.

/s/ Lisa D. Hamilton

- Fieldman

Lisa D. Hamilton

- Fieldman

Special Master

3 Entry of judgment can be expedited by each party’s filing of a notice renouncing the right to seek

review. Vaccine Rule 11(a).