Sebelius v. Cloer
Headline: Vaccine-injury program ruling allows attorney fees for late claims, letting people who filed untimely petitions recover fees if claims were made in good faith and had a reasonable basis.
Holding:
- Allows untimely vaccine program claimants to recover attorney fees if claims had a reasonable basis.
- Encourages lawyers to represent borderline vaccine-injury cases without fear of uncompensated work.
- Requires special masters to consider fee claims even for late petitions.
Summary
Background
Dr. Melissa Cloer received three Hepatitis-B vaccinations in 1996–1997 and began to have symptoms soon after. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2003, learned of a possible vaccine link in 2004, and filed a claim in September 2005 under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA). The NCVIA has a 36-month time limit from first symptoms and a special compensation process that routes petitions to a special master (a court-appointed adjudicator). A special master and later courts found Dr. Cloer’s petition untimely.
Reasoning
The Court examined the statute’s text and concluded the Act treats a petition as “filed” when it is delivered to and accepted by the court clerk and forwarded for adjudication. The fees provision allows awards for “any proceeding on such petition” if a petition was brought in good faith and had a reasonable basis. The Government argued that a late petition is not truly “filed” and so cannot get fees, but the Court found no textual cross-reference tying the fees rule to the 36-month limit and rejected that reading. The Court therefore held that an untimely petition can still qualify for attorney’s fees so long as it was filed in good faith and had a reasonable basis.
Real world impact
The decision lets people who filed late vaccine-program claims still recover attorney fees when their claims were reasonable and made in good faith, even though late petitions generally cannot receive compensation. It also confirms that special masters may assess fee claims for late filings, which could increase fee proceedings but does not change the rule that untimely petitions typically do not get compensation.
Dissents or concurrances
Two Justices (Scalia and Thomas) joined most of the opinion but did not join Part II-B, signaling limited disagreement about one portion of the Court’s analysis.
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