When you win a civil court case, you can ask the losing side to pay for some of your legal costs. This includes things like filing fees, copying documents, and paying your lawyer. There are rules about what costs you can ask for and how to ask for them. It’s important to follow these rules to make sure you get the money you’re owed. The Florida Conference of Circuit Judges adopted the Statewide Uniform Guidelines for the Taxation of Costs in Civil Actions to help courts and lawyers figure out how to properly tax costs in a legal case. The guidelines don’t change the rules about who can get costs, but they help determine what costs can be taxed. The court can decide to tax costs if they were necessary and reasonable for the trial or to develop a party’s case. The court has to think about how much the costs were and if they were really needed. If a party dismisses a case, they may have to pay costs if the other party paid or had to pay them. If a new trial is needed because of a party’s conduct, they might have to pay some of the costs. After a judgment or dismissal, the winning party can ask the court to tax costs by filing a motion with the court. If you want to dispute certain costs in a legal case, you can object at a hearing or file written objections before the hearing. If you want to challenge the reasonableness of certain fees, you have to make a specific objection and the court will decide if you can have a hearing.
If you want to challenge the cost of depositions, they have to be shown to be “reasonably necessary” and serve a useful purpose in the case. The same goes for expert witness fees and trial exhibits. Mediation costs cannot be taxed unless required by law, and the rules for taxing medical records and court reporter fees vary by district.
Overall, the court has discretion in taxing costs, but its decisions can be reviewed for abuse of discretion. If you disagree with a court’s decision on costs, you can seek a review by filing a petition. The cost of photocopies and miscellaneous expenses like airfare and travel are not always paid by the losing party in a lawsuit. It’s up to the court to decide if these costs were necessary for the case. If they were, the winning party can ask for reimbursement. But if the costs were not directly related to the case, they won’t be paid for. It’s important for courts and lawyers to keep costs reasonable. These are citations for court cases in Florida. The cases cover a variety of legal issues and were heard in different district courts of appeal. The citations provide information about where to find the full text of each case.
Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/a-practitioners-guide-to-the-taxation-of-costs-in-civil-actions/
Leave a Reply