FORT LAUDERDALE BUSINESS LITIGATION: RECOVERING COSTS

The prevailing party in a lawsuit can recover the taxable costs it spent litigating. Fla. Stat. § 57.041 (“The party recovering judgment shall recover all his or her legal costs and charges which shall be included in the judgment.”). Taxable costs are recoverable even if there is no statute or contract provision allowing for recovery. But see Topalli v. Feliciano, 267 So. 3d 513 (Fla. 2d DCA 2019) (explaining that attorney’s fees in civil litigation are ordinarily borne by the party who incurs them unless the attorney’s fees are authorized by a statute or by agreement of the parties). The Fort Lauderdale business litigation attorneys of the Mavrick Law Firm represent businesses and their owners in breach of contract litigation and related claims of fraud, non-compete agreement litigation, trade secret litigation, trademark infringement litigation, employment litigation, and other legal disputes in federal and state courts and in arbitration.

It is easier for a litigant to recover its taxable costs than it is for that same litigant to recover its prevailing party attorney’s fees because the standard for recovering costs is lower than it is for recovering attorney’s fees. A party can only recover its attorney’s fees when that party prevailed on significant issues in the litigation. Boxer Max Corp. v. Cane A. Sucre, Inc., 905 So. 2d 916 (Fla. 3d DCA 2005). This test requires the court to analyze the issues litigated by the parties and determine which issues in the lawsuit were significant and who prevailed on those significant issues. Conversely, the test for determining prevailing party costs is the party that recovered judgment. Hawks v. Libit, 251 So. 3d 321 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018) (“[T]his court has applied the ‘party recovering judgment’ standard—not the ‘prevailing party’ standard—to costs motions filed pursuant to this section.”). The test for prevailing party costs is obviously easier to meet because a litigant need only prove he obtained a judgment in its favor.

After a judgment is obtained, the next step is to determine which costs are recoverable because all costs incurred during the course of litigation are not necessarily recoverable. Landmark Winter Park, LLC v. Colman, 24 So. 3d 787 (Fla. 5th DCA 2009). The Supreme Court of Florida issued an advisory opinion in 2005 identifying the costs that should be taxed as recoverable, may be taxed as recoverable, and should not be taxed as recoverable. In re Amends. to Unif. Guidelines for Tax’n of Costs, 915 So. 2d 612 (Fla. 2005). Costs that should be recoverable include deposition transcripts, court reporter fees, the cost of copies filed with the court or obtained in discovery, reasonable testifying expert witness fees, and witness subpoena fees. Costs that should be recoverable include mediation fees and witness and expert travel expenses. Costs that should not be recoverable include long distance telephone call expenses, non-testifying expert fees, travel time, and costs associated with matters that were not reasonable needed to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence at trial. However, the Guidelines are only advisory. Landmark Winter Park, LLC, 24 So. 3d 787. It is therefore up to the court to determine whether a particular cost is taxable in a particular lawsuit. The court has broad discretion to make this determination. Noel v. Broward Gen. Med. Ctr., 725 So. 2d 438 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999) (finding that the trial court was within its broad discretion to tax those items used neither at trial nor to support a motion for summary judgment if the court concluded that the taking of such depositions was “reasonably necessary”).

The Fort Lauderdale business litigation attorneys of the Mavrick Law Firm represent businesses and their owners in breach of contract litigation and related claims of fraud, non-compete agreement litigation, trade secret litigation, trademark infringement litigation, employment litigation, and other legal disputes in federal and state courts and in arbitration.