Jay Nygard v. City of Orono
24-1232
| 8th Cir. | Sep 16, 2024
Opinion Summary

Facts

  1. Lucita Singleton filed a petition in 2017 claiming her flu vaccination caused her seizures and epilepsy. [lines="15-17"].
  2. The special master denied Singleton's entitlement on April 28, 2023. [lines="20"].
  3. On October 23, 2023, Singleton requested $111,602.14 in attorneys’ fees and costs. [lines="21-25"].
  4. The respondent accepted that the statutory requirements for an attorneys’ fee award were met but requested the court determine a reasonable amount. [lines="55-59"].
  5. The special master concluded the overall number of hours billed appeared reasonable and appropriately described the work done. [lines="192-195"].

Issues

  1. Whether the attorney's fees and costs requested by the petitioner are reasonable under the Vaccine Act. [lines="65-67"].
  2. Whether the special master erred in adjusting the requested hourly rate for law students’ work in 2022. [lines="166-168"].

Holdings

  1. The special master found that the petitioner’s request for fees and costs was reasonable and awarded a total of $110,054.74. [lines="220-224"].
  2. The special master reduced the law students’ hourly rate for 2022 to $165.00 per hour, aligning it with prior awards. [lines="166-168"].

OPINION

*1 Before LOKEN, GRUENDER, and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges.

____________ PER CURIAM.

Jay Nygard appeals the district court’s [1] dismissal of his pro se complaint as barred by the statute of limitations, the Rooker-Feldman [2] doctrine, and the Younger [3] abstention doctrine. After careful de novo review of the record and the parties’ arguments on appeal, we find no basis for reversal. See Humphrey v. Eureka Gardens Pub. Facility Bd., 891 F.3d 1079, 1081 (8th Cir. 2018) (de novo review of whether statute of limitations bars claims); Kvalvog v. Park Christian Sch., Inc., 66 F.4th 1147, 1151-52 (8th Cir. 2023) (de novo review of district court's lack of jurisdiction due to Rooker-Feldman doctrine); Minn. Living Assistance, Inc. v. Peterson, 899 F.3d 548, 551 (8th Cir. 2018) (abuse of discretion review of district court's decision to abstain under Younger).

Accordingly, we affirm. See 8th Cir. R. 47B.

______________________________

[1] The Honorable Donovan W. Frank, United States District Judge for the District of Minnesota.

[2] See Rooker v. Fid. Tr. Co., 263 U.S. 413 (1923); D.C. Ct. of Appeals v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462 (1983).

[3] See Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37 (1971). -2-