Belniak v. McWilliams
Belniak v. McWilliams
Opinion of the Court
Appellants, Alfred Belniak and Marlene Belniak, were the prevailing parties at trial below. They appeal an order denying their motion to tax costs for an expert witness. The expert testified at trial and also testified at the costs hearing as to the reasonableness of his fees. The trial court found an expert witness fee of $ 3962.50 to be appropriate, but denied the motion on the ground that Appellants had failed to call "another expert qualified in the same field" to testify as to the reasonableness of the requested fee. We reverse. A prevailing party's burden at an evidentiary cost hearing to recover an expert witness fee is to present substantial competent evidence of the services performed and the reasonable value of those services. Powell v. Barnes ,
REVERSED and REMANDED.
BERGER and GROSSHANS, JJ., concur.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.