Bradshaw v. FFE Transportation Services, Inc. et al

Filing 103

ORDER re 97 Bill of Costs filed by James Bradshaw, costs in the amount of $2,130.26 will be awarded in the Judgment in this matter to enter this date. Signed by Honorable Jimm Larry Hendren on February 2, 2012. (dmc)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS
HOT SPRINGS DIVISION
JAMES BRADSHAW

PLAINTIFF

v.

Civil No. 09-6045

FFE TRANSPORTATION SERVICES, INC.,
and DAVID A. BOOKER, SR.

DEFENDANTS

O R D E R
Now

on

this

consideration
defendants'

2nd

day

February,

2012,

Bill

Of

(document

thereto,

and

Plaintiff's

objection

of

Costs
the

Court,

comes

on

for

#97),

and

well

and

being

sufficiently advised, finds and orders as follows:
1.

This case was tried to a jury in February, 2011, and a

verdict returned in favor of plaintiff James Bradshaw ("Bradshaw")
and against defendants FFE Transportation Services, Inc., and David
A. Booker, Sr. ("Defendants"), in the amount of $1,000,000.00.
Judgment was entered on the Verdict on March 3, 2011, but was
later set aside, and the matter was tried anew starting January 11,
2012.

The second trial also resulted in a verdict in favor of

Bradshaw in the amount of $1,000,000.00.
Bradshaw

now

asks

the

Court

to

award

costs

in

the

sum

items

are

not

$4,889.67.
2.

Defendants

object

that

the

following

taxable as costs:
(a)

Cost of photocopies not actually used at trial.

(b)

Cost of posters prepared for use at trial.

(c)

Court reporter fees for the deposition of plaintiff's

witness Dr. Mark Floyd, to the extent those fees were above the
normal ones because the transcript was expedited.
(d)

Cost of plaintiff's copy of his own deposition.

(e)

Court

reporter fees for the transcript of the first

trial.
(f)

Filing fees in state court.

(g)

Procurement expenses for medical records.

(h)

Witness and mileage fees incurred in conjunction with the

first trial.
3.

In determining whether particular costs are taxable, the

Court is guided by F.R.C.P. 54 and 28 U.S.C. §1920.

F.R.C.P.

54(d) provides that "[u]nless a federal statute, these rules, or
a court order provides otherwise, costs -- other than attorneys'
fees -- should be allowed to the prevailing party."
Section 1920 authorizes taxation of the following costs:
(1)

Fees of the clerk and marshal;

(2) Fees for printed or electronically recorded
transcripts necessarily obtained for use in the case;
(3)

Fees and disbursements for printing and witnesses;

(4) Fees for exemplification and the costs of making
copies of any materials where the copies are necessarily
obtained for use in the case;
(5)

Docket fees under section 1923 of this title;

(6) Compensation
of
court
appointed
experts,
compensation of interpreters, and salaries, fees,
expenses, and costs of special interpretation services
under section 1828 of this title.

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4.

Looking to the "fit" between Bradshaw's claimed costs and

the categories of § 1920, the Court finds the following:
(a)

The cost of photocopies not actually used at trial is not

taxable.

Only the cost of copies "necessarily obtained for use in

the case" is taxable.

See

Emmenegger v. Bull Moose Tube Co., 33

F.Supp.2d 1127, 1133-34 (E.D. Mo. 1998) (amounts paid to others
for production of documents, and for copying exhibits, recoverable
under § 1920 only if segregated from copies made for discovery,
research, convenience of counsel.)
The

Bill

Of

Costs

does

not

break

down

the

categories

of

copies, but an e-mail from plaintiff to defendant (attached as an
Exhibit
question

to

plaintiff's

here

included

research, and pleadings.
copies of exhibits.

Reply
not

Brief)
only

notes

exhibits

that
but

the

copies

in

correspondence,

Roughly 3,000 pages are identified as

While nowhere near that many exhibits were

actually introduced at trial, the Court does not doubt that they
were circulated, duplicated, and had to be considered.
Another 550 pages are identified as transcripts used in crossexamination.
At $.15/page, the cost of these copies was $532.50, and the
Court will tax that amount as costs.
b)

The cost of posters prepared for use at trial is not

taxable in this case, because they were not necessarily obtained
for use in the case. The courtroom in which the case was tried is
equipped with sophisticated technology for displaying documents on

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computer screens to each juror, making enlargements unnecessary.
(c)

The Court is not persuaded that court reporter fees for

a deposition, to the extent they represent a premium for expedited
work, can be fairly charged to defendants.

Moreover, there is no

indication what those fees would have been if the deposition of Dr.
Mark Floyd had not been expedited.

As a result, the Court will

award only that portion of the charges characterized as appearance
fee, for a total of $125.00.
(d)

The cost to Bradshaw of obtaining a copy of his own

deposition is recoverable.

It is common for a witness to be cross-

examined at trial based on his deposition testimony, and he can
hardly be expected to prepare for such cross-examination if he does
not have a copy.
(e)

That cost, $151.25, will be taxed.

The cost of obtaining a copy of the transcript of the

first trial will be allowed.

This transcript was used extensively

in arguments to the Court, by both parties.
(f)

It cost $552.60.

Filing fees in state court will not be allowed, as same

are not taxable costs.

Pershern v. Fiatallis North America, Inc.,

834 F.2d 136, 140 (8th Cir. 1987).
(g)

Procurement expenses for medical records are taxable.

As explained in Emmenegger, supra, amounts paid to others for
production of documents are taxable as costs.

That amount is

$218.88.
(h)

Witness and mileage fees incurred in conjunction with the

first trial will be allowed.

Defendants cite no authority for

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their argument that when a case is retried, this category of costs
is

only

taxable

for

the

second

trial,

and

the

Court

is

not

persuaded that such a limitation can be read into the statute.
That amount is $550.03.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that costs in the amount of $2,130.26
will be awarded in the Judgment in this matter.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
/s/ Jimm Larry Hendren
JIMM LARRY HENDREN
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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