Things to Know when Hiring a Vaccine Attorney

If you are searching the internet for a lawyer to help with a reaction or side effect to a vaccination, your results may be flooded with attorneys and law firms promoting their ability to help you with your personal injury case. And eventually you will find that none of those lawyers fit what you are looking for.

This is because your situation involves a “Vaccine Injury,” an area of law much different than ordinary personal injury. And the differences between the two are like night and day.

The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP) is a federal program which compensates persons who experience a Vaccine Injury, which occurs when a child or adult experiences certain adverse reactions after receiving one of several vaccinations covered under the NVICP. Claims for compensation to the NVICP are made to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims located in Washington, D.C., by filing a petition. Most “petitioners” are represented by lawyers who must be admitted to practice in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

If you asked a lawyer specializing in personal injury, he or she may not even be aware of the existence of the NVICP (even most doctors and hospitals are unaware). The lawyer may tell you that in order to recover for your injury,  you have to sue the pharmaceutical company who manufactured the vaccine, or the doctor, clinic, or pharmacy which administered it.  And they would probably be wrong. If the lawyer tells you they will represent you for a contingent fee, they would not realize that if recovery for a vaccine injury claim is allowed, the NVICP pays the lawyer, separate and apart from the person's recovery.

If you think you may have suffered an injury from a vaccination, the most important thing to know is this: whether or not you choose us, you should contact a lawyer with experience in the NVICP.

You can contact us about a possible Vaccine Injury by visiting our Contact page. And you can learn more about the NVICP and the firm's representation of persons with possible Vaccine Injury claims by visiting the Vaccine Injury page and other articles in our Blog. Our lawyers are also found at the Court's list of Vaccine Attorneys, and on the Member Directory of the Vaccine Injured Petitioners Bar Association.