Morse v. Secretary of Health & Human Services

93 Fed. Cl. 780, 2010 U.S. Claims LEXIS 523, 2010 WL 2925848
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJuly 26, 2010
DocketNo. 05-418 V
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 93 Fed. Cl. 780 (Morse v. Secretary of Health & Human Services) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Morse v. Secretary of Health & Human Services, 93 Fed. Cl. 780, 2010 U.S. Claims LEXIS 523, 2010 WL 2925848 (uscfc 2010).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

BUSH, Judge.

The court now has before it Petitioner’s Motion for Review of the Special Master’s March 9, 2010 Decision on Attorneys’ Fees (Pet’r Mot.), filed April 8, 2010. A response brief (Resp’t Br.) was filed by respondent on May 10, 2010. Although the court denied a previous motion for review challenging the special master’s disallowance of certain expert costs, the court must grant this motion for review and set aside the special master’s March 9, 2010 fees decision.

BACKGROUND

In early January 2009, Ms. Jennifer Morse and i’espondent reached a settlement as to a stipulated award for her claim for compensation under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, 42 U.S.C. §§ 300aa-1 to - 34 (2006) (the Vaccine Act). Morse v. Sec’y of Health & Human Servs., No. 05-418V, 2009 WL 255592 (Fed.Cl.Spec.Mstr. Jan. 8, 2009) (Morse I). Respondent nonetheless disputed a portion of petitioner’s subsequent request for attorneys’ fees and costs. The special master assigned to this case reduced petitioner’s requested award of expert costs. Morse v. Sec’y of Health & Human Servs., No. 05-418V, 2009 WL 1783639 (Fed. Cl. Spec. Mstr. June 5, 2009) (Morse II).

Petitioner then timely filed a motion for review of the special master’s June 5, 2009 decision on attorneys’ fees and costs. This court affirmed the special master’s fees and costs decision on October 20, 2009. Morse v. [783]*783Sec’y of Dept. of Health & Human Servs., 89 Fed.Cl. 683, 683 n. 1 (2009) (Morse III). Because petitioner sought additional attorneys’ fees and costs related to the filing of her motion for review of Morse II, the court remanded the matter to the special master for consideration of petitioner’s supplemental fees request. Morse III, 89 Fed.Cl. at 691.

On November 4, 2009, petitioner submitted to the special master an application for $11,603.30 in additional attorneys’ fees (Pet’r Fees Br.). On November 20, 2009, petitioner reported that due to certain objections by respondent, petitioner had lowered her fee request to the amount of $11,000, and that the government had no further objections to that amount. Thus, as of November 20, 2009 the special master was presented with an unopposed fees request for $11,000 related to the filing of petitioner’s motion for review of the special master’s decision in Morse II. Morse v. Sec’y of Health & Human Servs., No. 05-418V, 2010 WL 1177321, at *2 (Fed.Cl.Spec.Mstr. Mar. 9, 2010) (Morse IV). The special master nonetheless “was concerned whether a reasonable basis supported Ms. Morse’s motion for review and requested [on January 5, 2010] that Ms. Morse submit a brief explaining why a reasonable basis existed to support her motion for review.” Id. A short brief (Pet’r Supp. Br.) was filed by petitioner on January 13, 2010. On March 9, 2010, the special master denied petitioner’s additional fees request in its entirety, concluding that “Ms. Morse has failed to establish that her motion for review [of Morse II ] had a reasonable basis.” Morse IV, 2010 WL 1177321, at *6.

DISCUSSION

I. Standard of Review

This court has jurisdiction to review the decisions of a special master in a Vaccine Act case. 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-12(e)(2). As defined by Vaccine Rule 13(b) of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims (RCFC), an award of attorneys’ fees and costs is “a separate decision” subject to review by one of the judges of this court. “Under the Vaccine Act, the Court of Federal Claims reviews the decision of the special master to determine if it is ‘arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law[.]’ ” de Bazan v. Sec’y of Health & Human Servs., 539 F.3d 1347, 1350 (Fed.Cir.2008) (quoting 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-12(e)(2)(B) and citing Althen v. Sec’y of Health & Human Servs., 418 F.3d 1274, 1277 (Fed.Cir.2005)) (alteration in original).

This court uses three distinct standards of review in Vaccine Act cases, depending upon which aspect of a special master’s judgment is under scrutiny:

These standards vary in application as well as degree of deference. Each standard applies to a different aspect of the judgment. Fact findings are reviewed ... under the arbitrary and capricious standard; legal questions under the “not in accordance with law” standard; and discretionary rulings under the abuse of discretion standard.

Munn v. Sec’y of Dep’t of Health & Human Servs., 970 F.2d 863, 870 n. 10 (Fed.Cir.1992).

The special master’s determination of reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs in a Vaccine Act case is typically a discretionary ruling that is entitled to deference from this court. See, e.g., Saxton ex rel. Saxton v. Sec’y of Dep’t of Health & Human Servs., 3 F.3d 1517, 1521 (Fed.Cir.1993) (stating that “fee determinations are within the discretion of a trial forum and are entitled to deference”) (citations omitted); Wasson by Wasson v. Sec’y of Dep’t of Health & Human Servs., 24 Cl.Ct. 482, 483 (1991) (“A request for attorneys’ fees and expenses should not result in another extensive proceeding, and the special master is given reasonably broad discretion when calculating such awards.” (citing Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 437, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983))), aff'd, 988 F.2d 131, 1993 WL 18492 (Fed.Cir.1993) (table). Here, however, the special master did not address the question of whether petitioner’s counsel expended a reasonable number of hours on Ms. Morse’s motion for review of Morse II and charged a reasonable hourly rate for those services, which would have been a discretionary ruling entitled to deference. See Saxton, 3 F.3d at 1520 (“The determination of the amount of [784]*784reasonable attorneys’ fees is within the special master’s discretion.”) (emphasis added and citation omitted). Instead, the special master ruled as a matter of law that no hours could reasonably have been spent seeking review of his decision in Morse II. See Morse IV, 2010 WL 1177321, at *6 (stating that because “Ms. Morse has failed to establish that her motion for review had a reasonable basis[,][s]he is not awarded any compensation for filing the motion for review”).

Thus, Morse IV must be reviewed to determine whether the special master’s decision was in accordance with law. Munn, 970 F.2d at 870 n. 10. This is a de novo

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Bluebook (online)
93 Fed. Cl. 780, 2010 U.S. Claims LEXIS 523, 2010 WL 2925848, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/morse-v-secretary-of-health-human-services-uscfc-2010.