Do I Need a Lawyer to File a VICP Claim?

If you, your child, or spouse, or another close family member has been diagnosed with a vaccine-related injury or illness, you may be eligible to file a claim under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP). The VICP serves as a source of financial recovery for individuals and families facing the consequences of vaccine-related medical conditions, and filing a VICP claim can be an important step in the recovery process. If you have a VICP claim, do you need to hire a vaccine lawyer to represent you?

Technically, the answer to this question is “No.” All eligible vaccine recipients and family members are entitled to file a VICP claim on their own if they choose to do so. However, seeking compensation for the financial and non-financial costs of vaccine-related medical conditions is complicated, and even starting the process can prove challenging if you aren’t familiar with what you need to do. As a result, while hiring a vaccine lawyer isn’t legally required, it is recommended, and most people hire a lawyer to represent them.

How an Experienced Vaccine Lawyer Can Help with Your VICP Claim

If you have a claim for a vaccine injury or illness, there are several important ways an experienced vaccine lawyer will be able to help you. Here are just a handful of examples:

1. Assessing (and Proving) Your Eligibility to File

Not all vaccine-related injuries and illnesses qualify for compensation under the VICP. As a result, before you file a VICP claim, a critical first step is to determine whether you are eligible to file. There are a few key factors that require careful consideration:

• Whether you (or your loved one) received a covered vaccine
• Whether you qualify as an “eligible person” under the VICP
• How long it has been since your (or your loved one’s) immunization

Even if you are eligible to file a VICP claim, you won’t be able to secure financial compensation under the program unless you can prove it. As a VICP claimant, it is up to you to establish your legal rights. When you hire an experienced vaccine lawyer to represent you, your lawyer will first make sure you are eligible to file, and then your lawyer will make sure you have the documentation you need to prove your eligibility.

2. Calculating the Total Value of Your VICP Claim

Along with proving your eligibility to file a VICP claim, you must also be able to prove how much you are entitled to recover. Under the terms of the VICP, claimants can seek compensation for three broad categories of losses:

• Medical expenses and other out-of-pocket costs
• Lost earnings
• Pain and suffering

While calculating your (or your loved one’s) medical expenses may be relatively straightforward, calculating the total value of your VICP claim can be significantly more complicated. Not only do you need to ensure that you are seeking adequate compensation for your (or your loved one’s) future out-of-pocket costs and lost earnings, but you need to know what constitutes “just” compensation for the pain and suffering caused by your (or your loved one’s) vaccine-related medical condition as well.

3. Filing Your VICP Claim in the Vaccine Court

Once you have all of the documentation you need, the next step is to file your VICP claim in the Vaccine Court. The Vaccine Court is located in Washington, D.C., and it is a federal court that imposes filing and procedural requirements similar to those imposed by other federal courts across the country.

This is why simply starting the process can prove challenging. However, an experienced vaccine lawyer will be intimately familiar with the Vaccine Court’s filing requirements and will be able to submit a valid and compliant claim on your behalf. Your lawyer will then be able to navigate the legal process for you while you focus on your (or your loved one’s) recovery.

4. Negotiating with the Government’s Lawyers for a Fair Settlement

In the substantial majority of cases, VICP claims end with out-of-court settlements. While you must file your VICP claim in the Vaccine Court initially, government lawyers will review your claim, and if you have a valid claim, they may be willing to negotiate a settlement so that you don’t have to fight for just compensation in court.

But, when targeting a settlement, you need to know how much to seek, and you must be able to communicate with the government’s lawyers effectively. As a result, while you can try to navigate this process on your own if you choose to do so, it makes sense to hire an experienced vaccine lawyer who knows how to negotiate effectively on your behalf.

5. Fighting for Just Compensation in the Vaccine Court if Necessary

Finally, while most successful VICP claims settle out of court, some claimants will need to fight for just compensation in the Vaccine Court. If you need to fight for just compensation in the Vaccine Court, it will be important to have an experienced vaccine lawyer on your side. This is a complicated process of its own, and you will need to be able to prove your claim over government lawyers’ objections in order to secure a financial award.

Hiring a Lawyer to File Your VICP Claim Costs You Nothing

Another critical fact to keep in mind is that it does not cost you anything to hire a lawyer for your VICP claim. The VICP pays claimants’ legal fees separately from their compensation awards, so you can truly get no-cost legal representation. This is different from contingency-fee representation in personal injury cases, where lawyers receive a percentage of the compensation they help their clients recover.

Schedule a Free Initial Consultation with an Experienced Vaccine Lawyer Today

Do you have more questions about hiring a lawyer to help you file a claim under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP)? If so, we strongly encourage you to contact us for a free, no-obligation consultation. To speak with an experienced vaccine lawyer about your claim in confidence, give us a call at 202-775-9200 or contact us online today.