Daniels v. Secretary of Health and Human Services, 14-1153

Petitioner Mary Daniels filed a Vaccine Act claim alleging SIRVA from a December 3, 2012 influenza vaccination; compensation was awarded pursuant to respondent’s proffer on March 15, 2016.
Petitioner moved for attorneys’ fees and costs seeking $22,049.90 (fees), $1,559.43 (attorneys’ costs), and $400.00 (petitioner out‑of‑pocket), totaling $24,009.33.
Respondent stated she would not contest entitlement but argued a reasonable fee range for similarly‑postured SPU cases was $12,000–$14,000.
Petitioner replied, disputing respondent’s reliance on allegedly dissimilar or stipulated awards and sought an additional $487.00 for preparing the reply; billing records showed some unbilled time.
The Chief Special Master found the requested fee award reasonable, granted the $478.00 (petitioner had omitted .2 hours) for the reply, and awarded a lump sum of $24,487.33 jointly payable to petitioner and petitioner’s counsel.
The decision notes under 42 U.S.C. § 300aa‑15(e)(3) attorneys may not collect fees beyond the award and cites Vaccine Rule 11 on expedited judgment entry.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Entitlement to attorneys’ fees and costs under the Vaccine Act	Daniels sought reasonable fees and costs incurred prosecuting her claim	Respondent did not contest statutory entitlement but offered a lower range based on similar SPU awards	Fees and costs are recoverable; entitlement satisfied and an award granted
Reasonableness of requested amount	Requested ~$24,009.33 plus $487 for reply; provided billing records and disallowed some small increments	Proposed a lower reasonable range of $12,000–$14,000 based on cited SPU cases	Special Master found petitioner’s request reasonable, awarded total $24,487.33 (includes reply fee)
Additional fee for preparing reply	Sought $487 for reply with detailed entries; omitted some non‑billable time elsewhere	Respondent implicitly challenged overall reasonableness but did not object specifically to reply fee	Awarded the full $478/$487 (court used petitioner’s adjusted figure) for reply work as reasonable
Form and limits of award	Requested lump sum payment to counsel and petitioner	Respondent noted statutory limits on collecting fees beyond award	Award ordered as lump sum jointly payable to petitioner and counsel; counsel barred from collecting additional fees by statute

Beck v. Sec'y of Health & Human Servs., 924 F.2d 1029 (Fed. Cir. 1991) (attorney may not charge or collect fees beyond the amount awarded under the Vaccine Act)