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Page Number: 10.0

8 

PETER v. NANTKWEST, INC. 

Opinion of the Court 

B 
“The record of statutory usage” also illustrates how the
term “expenses” alone does not authorize recovery of attor-
ney’s fees.  See West Virginia Univ. Hospitals, Inc. v. Casey, 
499 U. S. 83, 88 (1991) (looking to statutory usage to deter-
mine whether attorney’s fees and expert fees were distinct
expenses in the fee-shifting context). 

That “expenses” and “attorney’s fees” appear in tandem
across  various  statutes  shifting  litigation  costs  indicates 
that Congress understands the two terms to be distinct and
not  inclusive  of  each  other.  See,  e.g.,  898  F. 3d,  at  1188 
(quoting  11  U. S. C.  §363(n)  (allowing  trustee  to  recover 
“any  costs,  attorneys’  fees,  or  expenses  incurred”);  12 
U. S. C.  §1786(p)  (permitting  courts  to  “allow  to  any  such
party  such  reasonable  expenses  and  attorneys’  fees  as  it
deems just and proper”); 25 U. S. C. §1401(a) (allowing dis-
tribution of funds after payment of “attorney fees and liti-
gation  expenses”);  26  U. S. C.  §6673(a)(2)(A)  (authorizing
recovery of “costs, expenses, and attorneys’ fees” against an
attorney  who  “unreasonably  and  vexatiously”  multiplies
proceedings); 31 U. S. C. §3730(d)(1) (permitting recovery of
“reasonable  expenses  . . .  plus  reasonable  attorneys’  fees
and  costs”);  38  U. S. C.  §4323(h)(2)  (allowing  courts  to
award “reasonable attorney fees, expert  witness fees, and 
other  litigation  expenses”)  (all  internal  quotation  marks
omitted)).

While  some  other  statutes  refer  to  attorney’s  fees  as  a 
subset of expenses, they show only that “expenses” can in-
clude attorney’s fees when so defined.  See, e.g., 28 U. S. C. 
§361  (authorizing  “reasonable  expenses,  including  attor-
neys’  fees”);  §1447(c)  (“An  order  remanding  the  case  may 
require payment of just costs and any actual expenses, in-
cluding attorney fees, incurred as a result of the removal”); 
29  U. S. C.  §1370(e)(1)  (“[T]he  court  in  its  discretion  may 
award all or a portion of the costs and expenses incurred in
connection with such action including reasonable attorney’s