Notice Of Motion And Motion To Strike And/Or Tax Defendants' Memorandum Of Costs In Trial Court
Matter on the Law & Motion/Discovery Calendar for Wednesday, Jun-18-2025, Line 13. PLAINTIFFS MELODY STUDER, and ANGELA ULE'S Motion To Strike And/Or Tax Defendants' Memorandum Of Costs In Trial Court.
Plaintiffs Melody Studer and Angela Ule's motion to strike and/or tax trial court costs claimed by defendants is granted in part. Judge Karnow has retired and is not available to decide this motion. $240 of the filing and motion fees, $1,081.40 of the deposition costs for deponent Peter Bresler and expert Terry Lloyd, all $5,250 of the court reporter fees, all $1,388 of the fees for electronic filing or service, and all $2,778.20 of the mediation fees are stricken for a total of $10,736.60. All other claimed costs are allowable resulting in an award of costs of $2,278.30 to defendants.
The court reporter and mediation fees are disallowed per Anthony v. Li (2020) 47 Cal. App. 5th 816, 824-825. That there was no written contract here is a distinction without a difference. In Anthony, the Court of Appeal decided not to read in the recovery of split mediation and court reporter fees because of fundamental contract principles and the default proposition that "each party must bear its own costs of litigation." (Id. at 824.) Here, the parties entered into an implied-in-fact contract under which the costs would be split. Without any agreement that the costs are recoverable, the default is that they are not.
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