Opinion ID: 2509319
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: Unlike A Counsel-Fee Quest, Which Calls Here For Nisi Prius Adjudication, Taxation Of Court Costs Triggers Only Ministerial Process.

Text: ¶ 15 An attorney's fee is a rubric different from court costs. A counsel-fee quest sought as an element of recovery triggers the adjudicative process. It requires an adversarial evidentiary hearing on the right of recovery [21] as well as its amount. [22] In contrast, costs are not part of recovery. A motion for court costs imposes on the court clerk the ministerial function of taxing ordinary costs without antecedent judicial action or a party's request. When a COCA opinion is silent as to costs and there is no post-decisional order dealing with this item, costs are allowed of course ( de cursu ) by the appellate court clerk to the prevailing party. [23] ¶ 16 Because court costs are not a recovery component and can therefore be considered without a certiorari petition, I would dispose of Mother's post-appeal quest for court costs by allowing two of the requested items (the cost deposit and court reporter's transcript fee) [24] and disallowing the remaining items (the fee for assembling the record and for copying and binding the appellate brief). [25]