Rocha v. Gilbert et al

Filing 158

ORDER granting in part and denying in part 142 Motion for Bill of Costs. Signed by Chief Judge James C. Dever III on 4/5/2014. A copy of the order was mailed to the pro se plaintiff. (Sawyer, D.)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
SOUTHERN DIVISION
No. 7:12-CV-2-D

MAURICE ROCHA,
Plaintiff,

v.
COASTAL CAROLINA
NEUROPSYCHIATRIC CRISIS
SERVICES, P.A.,
Defendant.

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ORDER

Defendant Coastal Carolina Neuropsychiatric Crisis Services, P.A.'s application for costs
and attorney's fees [D.E. 142, 145] is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. Defendant
shall have and recover from plaintiff the sum of$1,662.17 for taxable costs. See Fed. R. Civ. P.
54(d)(1 ); Local Civil Rule 54.1. Defendant's request to recover legal research charges as "costs" is
DENIED because district courts are not authorized to tax legal research charges as costs. See 28
U.S.C. § 1920; Countzy Vintner ofN.C .. LLC v. E. & J. Gallo Winecy. Inc., 718 F.3d 249, 254-57
(4th Cir. 2013); Silicon Knights. Inc. v. Epic Games. Inc., 917 F. Supp. 2d 503, 510-11 (E.D.N.C.
2012); seealso,~,Attrezzi. LLCv. MaytagCmp., 436 F.3d32, 43 (lstCir. 2006) (explaining that
legal research charges are properly classified as attorneys' fees, not as costs); Haroco. Inc. v. Am.
Nat'lBank&TrustCo.ofChi.,38F.3d 1429,1440-41 (7thCir.1994)(same). Defendant'srequest
for $134,104.00 in attorney's fees is DENIED because plaintiff's claim was not frivolous,
unreasonable, or without foundation. See Christiansburg Garment Co. v. EEOC, 434 U.S. 412,
421-22 (1978); cf. EEOC v. Propak Logistics. Inc., No. 13-1687,2014 WL 1199493, at *5-7 (4th
Cir. Mar. 25, 2014).

SO ORDERED. This L

day of April2014.

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