About $23,750 In Non-Taxed Costs Were At Issue.
In Tsang v. Engelberg, Case No. A146379 (1st Dist., Div. 3 Nov. 19, 2018) (unpublished), a losing plaintiff was not happy when the lower court denied her motion to tax costs to the winning party for about $23,750, which included review time by a medical/psychiatric expert and for trial technician/exhibit preparation expenses by outside persons visually displaying evidence at trial and operating the equipment during trial.
The appellate court affirmed the lower’s court refusal to tax these costs.
With respect to the expert review of documents to support his opinion, there was no abuse of discretion in awarding expenses for this time given it was necessary to develop the witness’s expert opinions. On the “trial technician” costs to visually display certain evidence and exhibits, American Airlines, Inc. v. Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, 96 Cal.App.4th 1017, 1057 (2002) was found persuasive in allowing for recovery of these expenses. It contrasted this to more mundane documents control and database charges which were found not recoverable in Science Applications Internat. Corp. vo Superior Court, 39 Cal.App.4th 1095, 1104-1105 (1995).