Judgment; Costs

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. Time for Filing.

Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, a Bill of Costs shall be (2) 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. - 17 - Contents. The Bill of Costs must state separately and specifically each item of (3) 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. Objections.

Within fourteen (14) days after a Bill of Costs is filed, the party (4) 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). Items Taxable as Costs. Costs are taxed in conformity with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1821, (6) 1920-1925, and other applicable statutes, with the following clarifications: Fees for the service of process and service of subpoenas by someone (A) 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.

The cost of copies necessarily obtained for use in the case is taxable (D) provided the party seeking recovery submits an affidavit describing the - 18 - 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. (c) Motion for Attorney’s Fees and Related Non-taxable Expenses Contents. A motion for attorney’s fees and related nontaxable expenses shall (1) 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 non- taxable 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 - 19 - 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 brief description of the relevant qualifications, experience and case- (A) 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 a statement identifying all adjustments, if any, made in the course of (C) exercising “billing judgment.” Responsive and Reply Memoranda. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, any (4) 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. CVLR 56 Motion for Summary Judgment (a) Motion Requirements.

A motion for summary judgment shall be accompanied by a supporting memorandum and separate concise statement detailing each material fact as to which the moving party contends that there are no genuine issues to be tried that are essential for the Court's determination of the summary judgment motion (not the entire case). - 20 - (b) Opposition Requirements. Any party who opposes the motion shall file and serve with their opposing papers a separate document containing a concise statement that: (1) Accepts the facts set forth in the moving party’s concise statement; or Sets forth all material facts as to which it is contended there exists a genuine (2) issue necessary to be litigated. (c) Focus of the Concise Statement. When preparing the separate concise statement, a party shall reference only the material facts which are absolutely necessary for the Court to determine the limited issues presented in the motion for summary judgment (and no others) and each reference shall contain a citation to a particular affidavit, deposition, or other document which supports the party’s interpretation of the material fact.

Affidavits or declarations setting forth facts and/or authenticating exhibits, as well as exhibits themselves, shall only be attached to the concise statement. The Court discourages the filing of non-relevant portions of any exhibits referenced in the concise statement. Instead, the filing party shall extract and highlight only the relevant portions of each referenced exhibit. Photocopies of extracted pages, with appropriate identification and highlighting will be adequate.

Format. A separate concise statement may utilize a single space format for the (d) presentation of the facts and evidentiary support when set out in parallel columns. Sample concise statements are attached hereto as Civil Attachments 6 (for movants) and 6.1 (for respondents). Limitation.

The concise statement shall be no longer than five (5) pages, unless it (e) contains no more than 1500 words. Scope of Judicial Review. When resolving motions for summary judgment, the Court (f) shall have no independent duty to search and consider any part of the Court record not otherwise referenced in the separate concise statements of the parties. Undisputed Material Facts.

For purposes of a motion for summary judgment, material (g) facts set forth in the moving party’s concise statement will be deemed undisputed unless controverted by a separate concise statement of the opposing party. (h) Notice to Pro Se Litigants re Motions for Summary Judgment. Any represented party moving for summary judgment against a party proceeding pro se shall serve and file a separate notice using the Court’s preapproved form (Civil Attachment 7) with the full text of Fed. R. Civ. P. 56 and CVLR 56 attached, together with the papers in support of the motion. - 21 - Where the pro se party is not the plaintiff, the movant shall amend the form notice as necessary to reflect that fact. CVLR 58-1 Entry of Judgments and Orders (a) Orders will be noted in the civil docket immediately after the judge has signed them.

The Clerk may require any party obtaining a judgment or order which does not require approval as to form by the judge to supply him with a draft thereof. (b) No judgment or order, except orders grantable by the Clerk pursuant to authorization by the Court and judgments which the Clerk is authorized by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to enter without direction of the Court will be noted in the civil docket until the Clerk has received from the Court a specific direction to enter it. Unless the Court’s direction is given to the Clerk in open court and noted in the minutes, it should be evidenced by the signature initials of the judge on the form of judgment or order. (c) Every order and judgment shall be filed in the Clerk’s office, and if the Clerk so requests, a copy shall also be delivered to the Clerk for insertion in the civil order book.

CVLR 58-2 Settlement of Judgments and Orders by the Court Except as otherwise ordered by the judge, within seven (7) days after the announcement (a) of the decision of the Court awarding any judgment or order which requires settlement and approval as to form by the judge, the prevailing party shall prepare a draft of the order or judgment embodying the Court’s decision and serve a copy thereof upon each party who has appeared in the action and mail or deliver a copy to the judge and to the Clerk. Any party receiving the proposed draft of judgment or order shall within seven (7) days thereafter serve upon all other parties and file a statement of any objection he or she may have to the proposed draft, the reasons therefor, and a substitute proposed draft. Thereafter, the judge shall take such further action as is necessary under the circumstances. The judgment or order shall be signed or initialed by the judge and shall be delivered to (b) the Clerk to enter it.

Judgments and orders prepared by the Court or Clerk shall be served by the Clerk on all (c) parties appearing in the action. Judgments and orders prepared by a party shall be served by that party on all other parties appearing in the action immediately upon receipt of a copy of the judgment or order signed by the judge. - 22 -