Local Rule CVLR 54: Judgment; Costs — D. Guam

CVLR 54 Judgment; Costs

(a) Assessment of Jury Costs. Where a civil case set for jury trial is settled or otherwise disposed of, notice of such agreement or disposition shall be filed in the Clerk's Office at least 24 hours before the date on which the case is set; otherwise juror costs, including service fees, mileage, and per diem, shall be assessed equally against the parties and their counsel or otherwise assessed as directed by the Court, except for good cause shown. Where a continuance of a case is applied for on the day set for trial and granted by the Court, the payment of juror costs by the party applying for the continuance may be one of the conditions of the continuance, unless the continuance was not due to any fault of the moving party.

(b) Taxation of Costs.

(1) Entitlement. Costs shall be taxed as provided in Rule 54(d)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Unless otherwise ordered, the Court will not determine the party entitled to costs in an action terminated by settlement; the parties must reach agreement regarding entitlement to taxation of costs or bear their own costs.

(2) Time for Filing. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, a Bill of Costs shall be filed and served within thirty (30) days of the entry of judgment, the entry of an order denying a motion filed under Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(b), 52(b), or 59, or an order remanding to state court any removed action. Non-compliance with this time limit shall be deemed a waiver of costs.

(3) Contents. The Bill of Costs must state separately and specifically each item of taxable costs claimed. It must be supported by a memorandum setting forth the grounds and authorities supporting the request and an affidavit that the costs claimed are correctly stated, were necessarily incurred, and are allowable by law. The affidavit must also contain a representation that counsel met and conferred in an effort to resolve any disputes about the claimed costs, and the prevailing party shall state the results of such a conference, or that the prevailing party made a good faith effort to arrange such a conference, setting forth the reasons the conference was not held. Parties may use the Bill of Costs Form, which is available from the Clerk's Office and the Court's website. Any vouchers, bills, or other documents supporting the costs being requested shall be attached as exhibits.

(4) Objections. Within fourteen (14) days after a Bill of Costs is filed, the party against whom costs are claimed must file and serve any specific objections, succinctly setting forth the grounds and authorities for each objection. Upon the timely filing of any objections, the Clerk of Court will refer both the Bill of Costs and objections to the Court for a determination of taxable costs. If no such objection is filed within the required time, the Clerk of Court may without notice or hearing tax all of the requested costs.

(5) Review. Taxation of costs may be reviewed by the court upon motion filed and served within seven (7) days after taxation by the clerk, in accordance with Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(d)(1).

(6) Items Taxable as Costs. Costs are taxed in conformity with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1821, 1920-1925, and other applicable statutes, with the following clarifications:

(A) Fees for the service of process and service of subpoenas by someone other than the marshal are allowable, to the extent they are reasonably required and actually incurred.

(B) The cost of a stenographic and/or video original and one copy of any deposition transcript necessarily obtained for use in the case is allowable. A deposition need not be introduced in evidence or used at trial, so long as, at the time it was taken, it could reasonably be expected that the deposition would be used for trial preparation, rather than mere discovery. The expenses of counsel for attending depositions are not allowable.

(C) Per diem, subsistence, and mileage payments for witnesses are allowable to the extent reasonably necessary and provided for by 28 U.S.C. § 1821. Unless otherwise provided by law, fees for expert witnesses are not taxable in an amount greater than that statutorily allowable for ordinary witnesses.

(D) The cost of copies necessarily obtained for use in the case is taxable provided the party seeking recovery submits an affidavit describing the documents copied, the number of pages copied, the cost per page, and the use of or intended purpose for the items copied. As of the effective date of these rules, the practice of this court is to allow taxation of copies at $.15 per page or the actual cost charged by commercial copiers, provided such charges are reasonable. The cost of copies obtained for the use and/or convenience of the party seeking recovery and its counsel is not taxable.

(E) Electronic or computer research costs are not taxable.

(F) Fees paid to the clerk of the territorial court prior to removal are taxable in this court, unless the removed case is remanded back to the territorial court.

(1) Contents. A motion for attorney's fees and related nontaxable expenses shall specify the applicable judgment and statutory or contractual authority entitling the moving party to the requested award and the amount of attorney's fees and related nontaxable expenses sought. In addition, the moving party shall file a memorandum in support and an affidavit of counsel.

(2) Memorandum in Support. The memorandum in support shall set forth the nature of the case; the claims as to which the moving party prevailed; the claims as to which the moving party did not prevail; the applicable authority entitling the moving party to the requested award; a description of the work performed by each attorney and paralegal, broken down by hours or fractions thereof expended on each task; the attorney's customary fee for like work; any additional factors required by case law; a listing, in sufficient detail to enable the Court to rule on the reasonableness of the request, of any expenditures for which reimbursement is sought; any additional factors that are required by case law; and any additional factors the moving party wishes to bring to the Court's attention.

(A) Description of Services Rendered. The party seeking an award of fees must describe adequately the services rendered, so that the reasonableness of the requested fees can be evaluated. In describing such services, counsel should be sensitive to matters giving rise to attorney-client privilege and attorney work product doctrine but must nevertheless furnish an adequate non-privileged description of the services in question. If the time descriptions are incomplete, or if such descriptions fail to describe adequately the services rendered, the Court may reduce the award accordingly. For example, time entries for telephone conferences must include an identification of all participants and the reason for the call; entries for legal research must include an identification of the specific issue researched and, if possible, should identify the pleading or document for which the research was necessary; entries describing the preparation of pleadings and other papers must include an identification of the pleading or other document prepared and the activities associated with such preparation.

(B) Description of Expenses Incurred. In addition to identifying each requested non-taxable expense, the moving party shall set forth the applicable authority entitling the moving party to such expense and should attach copies of invoices and receipts, if possible.

(3) Affidavit of Counsel. The affidavit of counsel shall include:

(A) a brief description of the relevant qualifications, experience and case-related contributions of each attorney and paralegal for whom fees are claimed, as well as any other factors relevant to establishing the reasonableness of the requested rates;

(B) a statement that the affiant has reviewed and approved the time and charges set forth in the itemization of work performed and that the time spent and expenses incurred were reasonable and necessary under the circumstances; and

(4) Responsive and Reply Memoranda. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, any opposing party may file a responsive memorandum within fourteen (14) days after service of the statement of consultation. The responsive memorandum in opposition to a motion for attorney's fees and related non-taxable expenses shall identify with specificity all disputed issues of law and fact, each disputed time entry, and each disputed expense item. The moving party, unless otherwise ordered by the Court, may file a reply memorandum within seven (7) days after service of the responsive memorandum. Thereafter, unless otherwise ordered by the Court, the motion and supporting and opposing memoranda will be taken under advisement and a ruling will be issued without a hearing.

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