Robison v. JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Filing 75

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER. (see order for details) IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the plaintiff's Motion 72 for Bill of Costs under 28 U.S.C. § 1920 is granted in part and denied in part. The Clerk shall tax costs in favor of plaintiff Heather Robison in the amount of $1676.04. Signed by Honorable Catherine D. Perry on 03/28/2012. (CBL)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
EASTERN DIVISION
HEATHER ROBISON,
Plaintiff,
vs.
JP MORGAN CHASE & CO.,
Defendant.

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Case No. 4:10CV226 CDP

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
After a jury trial resulted in a verdict for plaintiff Heather Robison, she filed
a Motion for Bill of Costs seeking $2694.64. Defendant JP Morgan Chase & Co.
has objected, arguing that certain items claimed are not properly taxable. Robison
has not responded to JP Morgan’s objections and the time for filing her opposition
has passed. I agree with most, but not all, of JP Morgan’s objections, and so I will
only award costs to Robison in the amount of $1676.04.
Under Rule 54(d)(1), Fed. R. Civ. P., costs are usually allowed to the
prevailing party. The specific costs that are recoverable are set out in 28 U.S.C. §
1920 as follows:
(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 cost 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.
Robison’s Motion for Bill of Costs claims taxable costs in the amount of
$2694.64, including $804.21 for fees and disbursements for printing, $77.63 in
fees for a witness, $815.70 in fees for exemplification and copies of papers
necessarily obtained for use in the case, $22.50 for docket fees, and $974.60 for
other costs.
“A prevailing party is presumptively entitled to recover all of its costs.”
168th & Dodge, LP v. Rave Reviews Cinemas, LLC, 501 F.3d 945, 958 (8th Cir.
2007) (internal citations and quotation marks omitted). However, § 1920 is not a
fee-shifting statute, and many expenses that might be reasonably incurred by
counsel as part of their representation are nevertheless not considered taxable
costs, and cannot be recovered. Robison’s Bill of Costs includes many such items.
In the “fees and disbursements for printing” category, JP Morgan objects to
$135 requested for printing pleadings and court filings, arguing that Robison’s
pleadings and court filings are not copies “necessarily obtained for use in the
case.” Robison has not responded to these objections. Although she is
presumptively entitled to recover all of her costs, JP Morgan has rebutted that
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presumption, and Robison failed to show what, if any, of these printing expenses
are properly taxable. I will reduce Robison’s Bill of Costs by $135.
In the “other costs” category, JP Morgan objects to $43.60 for a process
server other than the United States Marshals and $840.00 for a mediator fee. Only
Marshals’s fees for service are taxable as costs, and costs associated with the use
of a special process server are not allowed. See Crues v. KFC Corp., 768 F.2d
230, 234 (8th Cir. 1985); see also Exec. Air Taxi Corp. v. City of Bismarck, 2006
WL 3544386, at *2 (D.N.D. Nov. 7, 2006) (noting that although the role of the
federal marshal in civil lawsuits has been diminished since the Eighth Circuit’s
decision in Crues, district courts remain bound by that decision). Mediation costs
are not taxable either. See Brisco-Wade v. Carnahan, 297 F.3d 781, 782 (8th Cir.
2002). I will reduce Robison’s Bill of Cost by another $883.60.
In the “exemplification and the cost of making copies of any materials
where the copies are necessarily obtained for use in the case” category, JP Morgan
objects to $420.10 used to obtain a certified copy of the transcript from a witness
who both parties placed on their witness lists. Deposition transcripts are properly
categorized as fees for “printed or electronically recorded transcripts necessarily
obtained for use in the case” category, i.e., 28 U.S.C. § 1920(2), rather than 28
U.S.C. § 1920(4). This deposition was originally taken for use in another case and
the transcript was obtained before this lawsuit was filed, but it was reasonable for

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Robison to have reviewed the prior testimony of a potential witness before filing
her Complaint. I will overrule JP Morgan’s objection to this item.
To summarize, I will order taxed the following costs:
Fees and disbursements for printing:

$669.21

Fees for witnesses:

$ 77.63

Fees for exemplification and copies:

$815.70

Docket fees under 28 U.S.C. § 1923:

$ 22.50

Other costs:

$ 91.00

Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the plaintiff’s Motion for Bill of Costs
under 28 U.S.C. § 1920 is granted in part and denied in part. The Clerk shall tax
costs in favor of plaintiff Heather Robison in the amount of $1676.04.

CATHERINE D. PERRY
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Dated this 28th day of March, 2012.

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