Rajotte v. Secretary of Health and Human Services

In the United States Court of Federal Claims OFFICE OF SPECIAL MASTERS No. 15-1218V Filed: May 9, 2016 ************************* UNPUBLISHED JOHN RAJOTTE, * * Special Master Hamilton-Fieldman Petitioner, * * v. * Final Attorneys’ Fees and Costs; * Reasonable Amount Requested SECRETARY OF HEALTH * to which Respondent Does Not AND HUMAN SERVICES, * Object. * Respondent. * ************************* Leah Durant, Law Offices of Leah V. Durant, PLLC, Washington, D.C., for Petitioner.

Justine Walters, United States Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for Respondent.

DECISION 1 On October 19, 2015, John Rajotte (“Petitioner”) filed a petition pursuant to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. 2 42 U.S.C. §§ 300aa-1 to -34 (2006). In his petition, Petitioner alleges that an influenza (“flu”) vaccination administered on October 22, 2012 caused him to suffer from Guillain-Barré syndrome (“GBS”). On March 21, 2016, the undersigned issued a 15-Week Order on the basis of the parties’ representation that they had reached a tentative agreement in this case. The undersigned has not yet issued a decision on entitlement.

On May 9, 2016, Petitioner filed an Application for Attorneys’ Fees and Costs. In his motion, Petitioner requests compensation for $19,304.02 in attorneys’ fees and costs. Petitioner Because this unpublished decision contains a reasoned explanation for the action in this case, the undersigned intends to post this decision on the United States Court of Federal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, codified as amended at 44 U.S.C. § 3501 note (2012). 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 § 300aa-12(d)(4)(B).

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 material will be deleted from public access.

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, U.S.C. §§ 300aa-1 to -34 (2006) (Vaccine Act or the Act). All citations in this decision to individual sections of the Vaccine Act are to 42 U.S.C.A. § 300aa. represents that the entirety of this amount was incurred by his counsel; he has not personally incurred any fees or costs in pursuit of his vaccine claim. Petitioner also represents that Respondent has no objection to a fees and costs award for the amount requested.

The Vaccine Act permits an award of reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs. 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-15(e). The undersigned finds that this petition was brought in good faith and that there existed a reasonable basis for the claim. Therefore, an award for fees and costs is appropriate, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-15(b) and (e)(1). Further, the proposed amount seems reasonable and appropriate. Accordingly, the undersigned hereby awards the amount of $19,304.02, in the form of a check made payable jointly to Petitioner and Petitioner’s counsel, Leah Durant.

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

Entry of judgment can be expedited by each party’s filing of a notice renouncing the right to seek review. Vaccine Rule 11(a).