Margulies v. Secretary of Health and Human Services

I nth eUn i tedS ta tesC our tofF ede ra lCl aim s OFF ICE OFSPEC IAL MASTERS No.15-0863V F iled:Apri l19 ,2016 Unpub lished ********************************* HOWARD MARGUL IES, * * Pe ti tione r, * v . * * At torneys ’FeesandCosts ; SECRETARY OFHEALTH * Specia lProcess ingUn i t(“SPU ”) ANDHUMANSERV ICES, * * Responden t. * * **************************** Max imil l ian Mul ler , Mu lle rB raz i l,LLP ,D reshe r,PA,fo rpet it ioner . C laudia Gang i,U .S .Depar tmentofJus tice , Wash ing ton,DC,fo rresponden t. DEC IS ’FEESANDCOSTS1 ION ONATTORNEYS Do rsey,Ch iefSpec ial Mas ter : On August12,2015,pe t it ione rfiledapeti tionfo rcompensa tionunderthe Na tionalVaccineInjuryCompensa tionP rogram,42U .S .C.§300aa- 10 ,etseq.,2(the “VaccineAct” ).Petit ioneral legedtha thesu f feredashoulde rin ju ryasaresu l to fan in fluenza(“f lu” )vacc ina tionrece ivedon Oc tober5,2014.On March21,2016,the unders ignedi ssuedadec isionawa rdingcompensa t iontopet itionerbasedon the par ties’jo intst ipulat ion.(ECFNo .23) . On Ma rch21,2016,pet it ionerfi ledamo tionfo ratto rneys ’feesandcosts ( “motion”) .(ECFNo .18).The mot ionwastherea fte ramended.(ECF .No .26) . Pe ti tionerreques tsat torney s’feesintheamountof$13 ,005.00andat torneys ’costsin 1Becau seth isunpub lishedde cisioncontainsarea sonede xplana tionforthea c tioninthi sca se,the undersignedin tend stopo stitontheUn i tedS ta tesCou r tofFede ralC la ims'web s ite ,ina ccordancewith theE - Go ve rnmen tA ctof2002 .44U .S .C.§3501no te(2012 ) (Fede ra l Managemen tandP romo t ionof E lect ron icGovernmen tSe rv ice s) . Ina cco rdan cewithVa ccineRule18 (b) ,peti tionerhas14day sto iden tifyand mo vetoreda c t med ica loro therinformation ,thed isc lo sureofwhichwou ldconsti tutean unwarrantedinvasiono fpr iva cy.If,uponrev iew,theunde rsignedag reestha ttheiden t if ied mater ialf its w ith inth isdef ini tion,theunde rsignedw i llreda ctsuch materialf rompub l icaccess. 2Na tiona lCh i ldhoodVa ccineIn juryA cto f1986 ,Pub .L.No .99- 660 ,100S tat .3755 . Here ina fte r,fo r easeofci tat ion,a l l“§ ”re feren cestotheVa ccineA ctw i llbetothepe rt inen tsubpa rag raphof42U .S .C.§ 300aa(2012) . theamoun tof$772.13foratota lamountof$13 ,777.13.Id.a t1.Inaccordancewi th Genera lO rde r#9 , pet it ione r’scounse lrep resen tsthatpet it ione rincu rrednoout- of- pocketexpenses.Id . On Ap ri l7,2016 ,respondentf iledaresponsetope t it ioner ’s motion .(ECFNo . 24).Inhe rresponse ,respondentarguestha t“[n]ei thertheVacc ineActno rVacc ine Ru le13con templatesanyroleforresponden tinthereso lut ionofareques tbya pet it ione rfo ranawa rdo fat torneys ’feesandcos ts. ”Id .at1-2. Responden tadds , howeve r,thatshe“issa t isf iedthestatutoryrequiremen tsforanawa rdo fattorneys’fees andcos tsa re metinthiscase.”Id.at2. Responden tfurther“asser tsthatareasonab le amoun tforfeesandco s tsinthepresen tcasewou ldfal lbe tween$12 ,000.00 and $14,000.00”bu tprovidesnobas isorexplana tionfo rhowshea rr iveda t thi sproposed range.Id .at3. Theunde rs ignedhasreviewedthebi ll ingrecordssubmit tedw i thpet it ioner ’s request.Intheunders igned’ sexperience ,therequestappearsreasonab le,andthe unders ignedfindsnocausetoreducethereques tedhou rsorrates . Fur thermore ,the requestedamountfal lswi thintherangeasser tedbyresponden t . TheVaccineActpermitsanawa rdofreasonableat torneys’feesandcos ts. §15 (e) . Basedonthereasonablenessofpeti t ioner’srequest,theunders igned GRANTS pe ti tione r’smotionforat torneys ’feesandcos ts . According ly,theunde rsignedawardsthetota lo f$13 .133asalump ,777 suminthefo rmofacheckjo intlypayab letopeti tionerandpeti tione r’scounse l, Max imi llian Mul ler. T hec ler kofthecou rtsha l len ter judgmen tinacco rdancehe rew i th.4 ITISSO ORDERED . s/NoraBethDo rsey NoraBethDorsey Chie fSpecia l Master 3Thisamountisintendedtoco vera lllegalexpensesincu rredinthi s matter . Thisawa rdencompassesa l l chargesbytheattorneyagainstacl ient,“advancedcosts ”a swel la sfeesforlegalservi cesrende red. Fur thermore,§15(e)(3)preventsanattorneyf romcha rg ingorcollec tingfees(inc ludingcosts )tha twould beinaddi tiontotheamoun tawardedhe re in. Seegenera llyBeckv.Se c’yofHealth&HumanSe rvs. , 924F.2d1029(Fed .C i r.1991) . 4Pu rsuan ttoVa ccineRu le11 (a) ,en tryo fjudgmen tcanbee xped itedbythepa rt ies ’jo intf i lingo fno t ice renoun cingther igh ttoseekre view . 2

Margulies v. Secretary of Health and Human Services

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