Myers v. Secretary of Health and Human Services

In the United States Court of Federal Claims OFFICE OF SPECIAL MASTERS No. 18-324 * * * * * * * * * * * * * LESA MYERS, * * Petitioner, * Chief Special Master Cocoran * v. * Filed: March 24, 2026 * SECRETARY OF HEALTH * AND HUMAN SERVICES, * * Respondent. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Lawrence R. Cohan, Saltz Mongeluzzi & Bendesky, Philadelphia, PA, for Petitioner.

Meghan Murphy, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for Respondent.

DECISION GRANTING FINAL AWARD OF ATTORNEY’S FEES AND COSTS1 On March 1, 2018, Lesa Myers filed a petition for compensation under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. 2 Petition (ECF No. 1). Petitioner alleged that she suffered Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy as a result of receiving an influenza vaccine on October 27, 2016. Id. A Decision on Stipulation was entered on April 18, 2025. Decision (ECF No. 78).

Petitioner has now filed a motion for a final award of attorney’s fees and costs, requesting $72,851.60 (representing $41,836.90 in fees and $31,017.70 in costs). Petitioner’s Fee Application, dated November 17, 2025 (“Fee App.”) (ECF No. 82). Petitioner has also signed a statement indicating that she did not incur any costs associated with her claim. Fee App. at Ex. C.

Because this Decision contains a reasoned explanation for the action taken in this case, it must be made publicly accessible and will be posted on the United States Court of Federal Claims’ website, and/or at https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/uscourts/national/cofc, in accordance with the E-Government Act of 2002. 44 U.S.C. § 3501 note (2018) (Federal Management and Promotion of Electronic Government Services). This means the Decision 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.

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 subparagraph of 42 U.S.C. § 300aa (2018).

Respondent did not file a response to this motion, but communicated informally that he has no objections to the request.

I. Legal Standard Under the Vaccine Act, successful petitioners (like Ms. Myers) are entitled to a reasonable fees and costs award. Section 15(e)(1). Petitioners “bea[r] the burden of establishing the hours expended, the rates charged, and the expenses incurred” are reasonable. Wasson v. Sec'y of Health & Human Servs., 24 Cl. Ct. 482, 484 (1993). Adequate proof of the claimed fees and costs should be presented when the motion is filed. Id. at 484 n. 1. The special master has the discretion to reduce awards sua sponte, independent of enumerated objections from the respondent. Sabella v. Sec'y of Health & Human Servs., 86 Fed. Cl. 201, 208–09 (Fed. Cl. 2009); Savin v. Sec'y of Health & Human Servs., 85 Fed. Cl. 313 (Fed. Cl. 2008).

II. Calculation of Award a. Attorney’s Fees I have reviewed the billing records submitted with Petitioner’s fees request. The hourly rates requested by her attorney are reasonable and consistent with prior fees decisions. However, the hourly rate of $214.00 for paralegal Leah Amen for work performed in 2025 exceeds the Vaccine Program’s 2025 hourly rate ranges for paralegals.3 As I have done in previous fees decision, I will reduce the rate for Ms. Amen’s time to $212.00, which falls within the applicable Forum range. See Summers v. Sec’y of Health & Hum. Servs., No. 23-20V, 2026 WL 458706, at *1-2 (Fed. Cl. Spec. Mstr. Jan. 14, 2026). This will result in a reduction of $8.20 in fees.4 All other time billed to the matter shall be awarded in full.

b. Litigation Costs Like attorney’s fees, a request for reimbursement of costs must be reasonable. Perreira v. Sec’y of Health & Human Servs., 27 Fed. Cl. 29, 34 (Fed. Cl. 1992). Petitioner is requesting $31,017.70 in costs. Fee App. at Ex. B. These costs are adequately documented, and include costs typically reimbursed in the Vaccine Program, such as obtaining medical records, the Court filing fee, and expert costs. I find the requested costs reasonable and hereby award them in full.

The OSM Forum Hourly Rate Fee Schedules are available on the Court’s Website: https://www.uscfc.uscourts.gov/osm-attorneys-forum-hourly-rate-fee-schedules This amount is calculated as follows ($214.00-212.00=$2.00 x 4.1 hours billed by paralegal in 2025)=$8.20.

Conclusion The Vaccine Act permits an award of reasonable attorney’s fees and costs for successful claimants. Section 15(e). Accordingly, I hereby GRANT in part Petitioner’s Fees Motion.

Petitioner is awarded the total amount of $72,843.40 (representing $41,828.70 in attorney’s fees plus $31,017.70 in costs) to be paid through an ACH deposit to Petitioner’s counsel’s IOLTA account for prompt disbursement.

In the absence of a timely-filed motion for review (see Appendix B to the Rules of the Court), the Clerk of the Court shall enter judgment in accordance with this Decision.5 IT IS SO ORDERED.

/s/ Brian H. Corcoran Brian H. Corcoran Chief Special Master

Pursuant to Vaccine Rule 11(a), the parties may expedite entry of judgment by filing a joint notice renouncing their right to seek review.