Cases: Costs

Costs, Discovery: D.C. Circuit Decides That Only Electronic File Conversion Costs, Not Hosting, Organizing, Or Bates Stamping Expenses, Can Be Recovered By Federal Court Winners

Cases: Costs, Cases: Discovery

Interpretation Of The Scope of 28 U.S.C. § 1920 Was At Issue.             28 U.S.C. § 1920 provides:  “A judge or clerk of any court of the United States may tax as costs the following:  (1) Fees of the clerk and marshal; (2) Fees for printed or electronically recorded transcripts necessarily obtained for use in […]

Costs: $27,000 In Third Party Litigation Company Filing Expenses, Deposition Transcripts/Videos, Trial Binders, And Deposition Travel Expenses Were Properly Awarded

Cases: Costs

Losing Plaintiff Could Not Overcome Abuse Of Discretion Standard.             Code of Civil Procedure sections 1032, 1033, and 1033.5 are the main statutory provisions which govern the award of “routine” costs to a prevailing party in California state court litigation.  This is the way it works for the prevailing party:  there are specific categories of

Employment, Multipliers, Costs: Employee Obtaining Partial Success In FEHA Case Properly Awarded $695,000 In Attorney’s Fees, No Expert Witness Fees, And Some Routine Costs

Cases: Costs, Cases: Employment, Cases: Multipliers

Plaintiff’s $2 Million Request, Inclusive Of A 2.0 Positive Multiplier, Did Not Gain Traction.             Partial success and high hourly rates can often lead to reductions and rejection of a multiplier in contingency-driven cases under FEHA.  That is what basically occurred in Do v. Raytheon Co., Case No. B293950 (2d Dist., Div. 4 Oct 27,

Costs: $9,816.78 In Costs For 22 Medical Subpoenas Was Reasonably Granted To The Defendant, Given The Position It Took Through Affirmative Defenses.

Cases: Costs

Premature Filing Of Costs Memorandum Was No Problem Given A Lack Of Prejudice.             In Lowry v. Port San Luis Harbor Dist., Case Nos. B300072/B302209 (2d Dist., Div. 6 Oct. 22, 2020) (published), defendant was allowed a routine costs award of $9,816.78 for service of 22 medical subpoenas in a case where the defendant alleged

Costs: $149,106.50 In Routine Costs (Expert Witness Fees) Were Affirmed In Favor Of The Defense In Accountant Malpractice Action

Cases: Costs

Plaintiff Did Not Meet His Burden In Showing The Expenses Were Unnecessary/Unreasonable.             In Anton v. Barbich Hooper King Dill Hoffman Accountancy Corp., Case Nos. F073713/F074644 (5th Dist. Oct. 20, 2020) (unpublished), plaintiff lost a malpractice case brought against accountant defendants (mainly for accounting expert testimony in a litigation involving division of fees/costs) on summary

Costs, SLAPP, Substantiation Of Reasonableness Of Fees: SLAPP Fees Of $63,970 And Costs Of $1,680.13 Affirmed On Appeal

Cases: Costs, Cases: SLAPP, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

Vague Objections Not Entertained, But Failure To Award Positive Multiplier Was Sustained.             In Koerber v. Project Veritas, Case No. B291770 (2d Dist., Div. 3 Sept. 29, 2020) (unpublished), the Court of Appeal affirmed a mandatory SLAPP award of $63,970 in fees and $1,680.13 in costs.  The defense requested $109,545 in fees, inclusive of a

Civil Rights, Costs: In Mixed FEHA/Non-FEHA Action, Costs Properly Assessed Against Nonprevailing Plaintiff

Cases: Civil Rights, Cases: Costs

Although FEHA Case Was Not Frivolous, Costs Allowable On Non-FEHA Claims.             Even though a losing FEHA plaintiff only gets tagged with routine costs if plaintiff’s case is frivolous, that does not mean that plaintiffs in all actions do not face exposure, which is the situation when non-FEHA claims are involved.             Obi v. L.A.

Costs, Section 998, Special Fee-Shifting Statutes: Plaintiff Gets Second Chance At Arbitration And Post-Arbitration Costs Where Trial Court Erroneously Interpreted That The Parties’ Insurance Agreement Precluded The Award Of Arbitration Costs

Cases: Costs, Cases: Section 998, Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

Insurance Policy Did Not Preclude Recovery Of Costs Under Sections 998 Or 1293.2 And Strictly Limited Arbitrator’s Authority To Decide Only Plaintiff’s Entitlement To Damages And The Amount Thereof.             In Storm v. The Standard Fire Ins. Co., Case No. B299277 (2d Dist., Div. 4 July 24, 2020) (published), plaintiff and defendant insurance company

Costs, Sanctions: Trial Court Properly Denied CCP § 128.7 Sanctions Even Though Opposition Evidence Was Not Overwhelming; However, Costs Had To Be Awarded To Attorney Obtaining Dismissal Of Ex-Client’s Malpractice Complaint

Cases: Costs, Cases: Sanctions

Prevailing Attorney Fell Within Mandatory Category Of A Routine Costs Grant.             This next matter involved a contentious domestic, non-divorce temporary restraining order situation where an attorney sued for recovery of unpaid fees by one side (a male in a relationship with an ex-girlfriend) where there were malpractice allegations that the attorney had an affair

Costs: Where Both Plaintiff And Cross-Complainant Did Not Prevail, CCP § 1032 Required An Award Of Winning Costs To the Successful Defendant

Cases: Costs

However, Appellate Court Strongly Suggested That Attorney’s Fees Were Not Automatic, Given The Lower Court Can Find No One Prevailed—Fee Standard Is Different.             In The Real Estate Store v. Michel, Case No. B301771 (2d Dist., Div. 3 July 8, 2020) (unpublished), defendant obtained a reversal of a “each side bears its own costs and

Scroll to Top