Filed: Jun. 07, 2016
Latest Update: Jun. 07, 2016
Summary: DECISION GRANTING INTERIM AWARD OF ATTORNEY'S FEES AND COSTS 1 BRIAN H. CORCORAN , Special Master . On February 11, 2015, Julie Reiling filed a petition on behalf of her minor child, G.R., seeking compensation under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. 2 The Petition alleges that the Hepatitis-B vaccine, inactivated polio vaccine, Pedvax-hib vaccine, and/or pneumococcal conjugate vaccine that G.R. received on September 7, 2012, caused her to develop seizures and experience r
Summary: DECISION GRANTING INTERIM AWARD OF ATTORNEY'S FEES AND COSTS 1 BRIAN H. CORCORAN , Special Master . On February 11, 2015, Julie Reiling filed a petition on behalf of her minor child, G.R., seeking compensation under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. 2 The Petition alleges that the Hepatitis-B vaccine, inactivated polio vaccine, Pedvax-hib vaccine, and/or pneumococcal conjugate vaccine that G.R. received on September 7, 2012, caused her to develop seizures and experience re..
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DECISION GRANTING INTERIM AWARD OF ATTORNEY'S FEES AND COSTS1
BRIAN H. CORCORAN, Special Master.
On February 11, 2015, Julie Reiling filed a petition on behalf of her minor child, G.R., seeking compensation under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.2 The Petition alleges that the Hepatitis-B vaccine, inactivated polio vaccine, Pedvax-hib vaccine, and/or pneumococcal conjugate vaccine that G.R. received on September 7, 2012, caused her to develop seizures and experience regression of skills. See Pet. at 1 (ECF No. 1). After failing to adhere to numerous court deadlines, Petitioner's present counsel filed a motion to withdraw from the matter (ECF No. 26), followed by a request for an interim award of attorney's fees and costs. See April 25, 2016, Attorney's Fees Application (ECF No. 27) ("Fees App.").
Petitioner requests an interim award of attorney's fees and costs in the combined amount of $17,133.79. Fees App. at 1. Respondent opposes the request, arguing that an interim award is inappropriate. See Resp't's Response to Interim Request, dated May 9, 2016 (ECF No. 28).3 However, to the extent those objections do not carry the day, Respondent otherwise represents that the sum requested herein is reasonable, and does not formally object to it. ECF No. 28 at 4 n.3.
Thereafter, on June 6, 2016, Petitioner filed a supplement to her Fees Application. Pet'r's Supplement to the Application for Final Attorney's Fees and Costs (ECF No. 30) ("Supp. Fees App."). In it, Petitioner requested an award of attorney's fees and costs (based on the same rates relied on in the Fees Application) for the additional work that was required to review and response to Respondent's objections to her initial Fees Application (representing a total of $4,192.09). Accordingly, Petitioner is now requesting an interim award of attorney's fees and costs in the combined amount of $21,325.88.
Based on my review of the case record, I find that an interim award is appropriate, especially given Mr. Downing's pending withdrawal motion. Counsel withdrawing from a matter have often been awarded their fees in the form of an interim award. See, e.g., Woods v. Sec'y of Health & Human Servs., 105 Fed. Cl. 148, 154 (2012) (upholding special master's decision to grant petitioner an interim fee award despite counsel's withdrawal); Terrell v. Sec'y of Health & Human Servs., No. 13-334V, 2013 WL 4828593, at *2 (Fed. Cl. Spec. Aug. 20, 2013).
I also find that the requested rates are reasonable, in light of prior decisions discussing the appropriate rate for Mr. Downing, his associates, and his paralegals. See generally Al-Uffi v. Sec'y of Health & Human Servs., No. 13-956V, 2015 WL 6181669 (Fed. Cl. Spec. Mstr. Sept. 30, 2015); see also McCulloch v. Sec'y of Health & Human Servs., No. 09-293V, 2015 WL 5634323 (Fed. Cl. Spec. Mstr. Sept. 1, 2015). Nor do I find that the amount of time expended on the matter was unreasonable. And Respondent for her part effectively, if not literally, has conceded the same. Counsel's costs are also reasonable.
Accordingly, in the exercise of the discretion afforded to me in determining the propriety of attorney's fees and costs awards, and based on the foregoing, I GRANT Petitioner's Application for an Interim award of Attorney's Fees and Costs, awarding $21,325.88. In the absence of a motion for review filed pursuant to RCFC Appendix B, the clerk of the court SHALL ENTER JUDGMENT in accordance with the terms of this decision.4
IT IS SO ORDERED.
