United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ______________________

JENNIFER LANCLOS, Plaintiff-Appellant

v.

UNITED STATES, Defendant-Appellee ______________________

2021-1750 ______________________

Appeal from the United States Court of Federal Claims in No. 1:15-cv-00358-PEC, Judge Patricia E. Campbell- Smith. ______________________

Decided: July 15, 2022 ______________________

JEFFREY DAHL, Law Office of Jeffrey Dahl, San Anto- nio, TX, argued for plaintiff-appellant.

RICHARD PAUL SCHROEDER, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, United States Department of Jus- tice, Washington, DC, argued for defendant-appellee. Also represented by BRIAN M. BOYNTON, DEBORAH ANN BYNUM, MARTIN F. HOCKEY, JR. ______________________

Before MOORE, Chief Judge, REYNA and CHEN, Circuit Judges. Case: 21-1750 Document: 24 Page: 2 Filed: 07/15/2022

2 LANCLOS v. US

REYNA, Circuit Judge. Appellant Jennifer Lanclos appeals the decision of the Court of Federal Claims interpreting a settlement agree- ment between Ms. Lanclos and the U.S. Government. The Court of Federal Claims initially determined that the Gov- ernment is liable for a shortfall in the settlement amounts received by Ms. Lanclos. The shortfall resulted when the insurance company contracted by the Government to pro- vide monthly payments to Ms. Lanclos encountered finan- cial difficulties and reduced the payments by a significant amount. The Government moved for reconsideration, ar- guing that a decision by this court involving similar cir- cumstances constituted an intervening change in the controlling law that required the Court of Federal Claims to reach a different result. The Court of Federal Claims agreed and upon reconsideration decided that the Govern- ment is not liable for the shortfall because its liability ended once it purchased the annuity. We reverse the Court of Federal Claims’ decision and remand for further pro- ceedings. BACKGROUND Jennifer Lanclos was born in 1982 at the United States Air Force Medical Center at Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi. Lanclos v. United States, 133 Fed. Cl. 113, 114 (2017) (“Lanclos I”). During childbirth, she was seriously injured and as a result, Ms. Lanclos suffers from Athetoid cerebral palsy. Id. Athetoid cerebral palsy is a nonprogressive motor dysfunction syndrome characterized by a severe lack of voluntary muscle control. See generally Hart deCoudres Peterson, Cerebral Palsy, ACCESSSCIENCE, MCGRAW-HILL EDUCATION (Sept. 2019), https://www.acces sscience.com/content/cerebral-palsy/121500. Ms. Lanclos’s parents filed a medical malpractice law- suit on behalf of their daughter against the United States Air Force (the “Government”). In 1986, the parties entered into a settlement agreement. Lanclos I, 133 Fed. Cl. Case: 21-1750 Document: 24 Page: 3 Filed: 07/15/2022

LANCLOS v. US 3

at 114. Generally, the parties agreed that the Government would make certain lump sum payments to the parents of Ms. Lanclos and their attorney, and that Ms. Lanclos would receive a single lump sum payment followed by spe- cific monthly payments over 30 years, or for the remainder of her life, whichever was longer. J.A. 18–19. The parties agreed that the Government would purchase an annuity policy from an insurance company that would provide the monthly amounts expressly listed in the settlement agree- ment. Id. In consideration for the monetary settlement amounts, the Lanclos Family 1 agreed to terminate the law- suit and release the Go