Allen v. Bake-Line Products, Inc.

Full title: LOUIS ALLEN, JR., MONICA BAILEY, GUST BROWN, BEATRICE CHAMPION, CATHERINE…

Court: United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division

Date published: Jan 14, 2002

No. 98 C 1119 (N.D. Ill. Jan. 14, 2002)

Opinion

No. 98 C 1119

January 14, 2002

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Paul E. PLUNKETT, Senior U.S. District Judge

The case is before the Court on defendant's bill of costs, to which plaintiffs have lodged no objections. For the reasons set forth below, the Court finds that defendant may recover statutory costs under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure ("Rule") 54(d) in the total amount of $21,893.20.

Discussion

To award costs under Rule 54(d), we must determine that there is statutory authority for the costs sought to be recovered and that the costs are reasonable and were necessary to the litigation. Defendant seeks to recover costs for deposition transcripts and copies of "materials actually prepared for use in presenting evidence to the court," both of which are authorized by the statute. 28 U.S.C. § 1920 (2), (4); Mcllveen v. Stone Container Corp., 910 F.2d 1581, 1584 (7th Cir. 1990) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

The only question, then, is whether those costs are reasonable and were necessary to the case. The answer is yes. The transcript costs defendant requests are for the depositions of the plaintiffs or of witnesses whose testimony was used by the parties to support or oppose the summary judgment motion. Thus, the depositions were necessary to defendant's case. The transcript costs are also reasonable as they comport with the charges dictated by Local Rule 54.1. Similarly, defendant seeks costs only for copies of discovery and documents filed with the Court, materials that were clearly necessary to the case, and seeks to recover $.15 per page copied, a wholly reasonable charge.

In sum, the costs sought be defendant are authorized by statute, are reasonable and were necessary to the case. Accordingly, the Court finds that defendant is entitled to recover $20,603.80 for deposition transcripts and $1,289.40 for photocopies, or a total of $21,893.20 in costs.

Conclusion

For the reasons set forth above, the Court grants defendant's bill of costs. Judgment will be entered in defendant's favor on the bill of costs in the total amount of $21,893.20.