Weyerhaeuser Co. v. Ubaf Arab American Bank
Weyerhaeuser Co. v. Ubaf Arab American Bank
Opinion of the Court
ON DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR REVIEW OF TAXATION OF COSTS
United States Court of International Trade, sitting as a United States District Court Judge by Designation:
Defendant seeks review and modification of the Judgment Clerk’s taxation of costs pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 54(d) and Local Rule 11(b) of the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. Specifically, defendant seeks a reduction of the Judgment Clerk’s taxation of costs for an original and one copy of three pretrial deposition transcripts, claiming that the per page costs taxed by the Judgment Clerk are in excess of those permitted in this District. On August 5, 1991 this court rendered a decision in favor of plaintiff and awarded $109,145.87, plus costs 768 F.Supp. 481. Shortly thereafter, on August 12, 1991, final judgment for plaintiff was entered by the Clerk. A notice of motion to amend the judgment pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 59(e) to include prejudgment interest was filed by plaintiff on August 21, 1991. On September 6, 1991, and while the aforementioned motion was sub judice, plaintiff filed with the Judgment Clerk a request to tax costs on September 11, 1991. Neither party called the filing of the Rule 59 motion to the attention of the Judgment Clerk and defendant asserted no objection to the taxation of costs at that point in time on the ground that the August 12th judgment was no longer final in view of plaintiff’s pending Rule 59 motion.
On September 11, 1991, the date requested by plaintiff for the taxation of costs, the parties appeared before the Judgment Clerk to settle taxation of costs. Again, no objection was raised by defendant that because of a pending motion under Rule 59, the August 12th judgment was not final. Moreover, no objection was raised by defendant concerning the disputed deposition transcript costs and defendant consented to the costs requested by plaintiff and taxed by the Judgment Clerk. Allegedly thereafter, defendant was advised by the Judgment Clerk that the allowance per page for the fee of an original transcript of the depositions was $3.68 rather than higher costs requested by plaintiff and taxed by the Judgment Clerk, ranging from $5.74 to $5.90 per page.
Defendant now claims that the costs taxed by the Judgment Clerk for the deposition transcripts should be reduced by $937.86 (from $2,549.70 to $1,611.84) predicated on $3.68 per page instead of the per page charges actually billed by the court reporting service and taxed by the Judgment Clerk. In support of its claimed per page allowance of $3.68, plaintiff cites an order of Chief Judge Brieant, dated November 16, 1989, “In the Matter of MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE TRANSCRIPT FEES,” M10-468, reflecting rates adopted by the Board of Judges of the Southern District of New York increasing by ten percent the transcript rates authorized by the Judicial Conference of the United States as approved by the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States on October 18, 1989.
Defendant’s objection to the deposition transcript costs taxed by the Judgment
The court’s Local Rule 11(b) provides: “In the absence of any objection, any item listed may be taxed within the discretion of the clerk. The taxation of costs by the clerk shall be final unless modified on review by the court on motion filed within five (5) days thereafter pursuant to Rule 54(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.” As noted, supra, there was no objection made to the Judgment Clerk by defendant to the deposition transcription costs requested by plaintiff and no claim or proof here that the costs taxed are unreasonable. Plainly, there was no abuse of discretion by the Judgment Clerk in approving the requested charges, which are final unless modified on review by the court on motion. Fed.R.Civ.P. 54(d), Local Rule 11(b). Notwithstanding defendant’s failure to interpose objection to the deposition transcript costs to the Judgment Clerk, the court, of course, may modify the costs taxed by the Judgment Clerk if there is a legitimate reason for modification. However, this court perceives of no reason to modify the disputed costs taxed by the Judgment Clerk.
To the extent that plaintiff’s September 6th request for taxation of costs was premature in view of the nonfinality of the August 12th judgment pending decision on plaintiff’s motion to amend such judgment under Rule 59(e), any objection on that basis has been waived by defendant. Further, defendant did not assert any noncompliance with Local Rule 11(a) at the taxation of costs and does not claim any noncompliance in this review. Defendant’s motion is, therefore, denied.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- WEYERHAEUSER COMPANY v. UBAF ARAB AMERICAN BANK
- Status
- Published