Opinion ID: 1712057
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: revised guidelines

Text: Upon consideration of the Committee's report and proposed guidelines and public comments thereto; and after hearing oral argument, we approve the Committee's proposals with some important modifications. First, the Committee's proposed guidelines set forth three categories of costs: (1) those that shall be taxed; (2) those that may be taxed; and (3) those that should not be taxed. The guidelines, however, are not intended to be mandatory, and the appropriate assessment of costs in any particular proceeding remains within the discretion of the trial court. Accordingly, consistent with the current guidelines, we modify the first category to include those costs that should, rather than shall, be taxed. Additionally, in order to clarify the intended role of the guidelines and provide assistance to trial judges in applying them, we add a preamble to the guidelines, entitled Purpose and Application and Burden of Proof, which provides as follows: Purpose and Application These guidelines are advisory only. The taxation of costs in any particular proceeding is within the broad discretion of the trial court. The trial court should exercise that discretion in a manner that is consistent with the policy of reducing the overall costs of litigation and of keeping such costs as low as justice will permit. With this goal in mind, the trial court should consider and reward utilization of innovative technologies by a party which subsequently minimizes costs and reduce the award when use of innovative technologies that were not used would have resulted in lowering costs. In addition, these guidelines are not intended to (1) limit the amount of costs recoverable under a contract or statute, or (2) prejudice the rights of any litigant objecting to an assessment of costs on the basis that the assessment is contrary to applicable substantive law. Burden of Proof Under these guidelines, it is the burden of the moving party to show that all requested costs were reasonably necessary either to defend or prosecute the case at the time the action precipitating the cost was taken. According to the report, the Committee attempted to balance the goal of decreasing the cost of litigation with the goal of making the prevailing party whole. Consistent with the Court's stated policy, the preamble that we have added to the guidelines emphasizes the goal of decreasing the overall cost of litigation. In furtherance of that policy, the Committee recommends and the Court agrees that the trial court should reward utilization of innovative technologies by a party which minimizes costs and reduce the award when use of innovative technologies that were not used would have resulted in lowering costs. [1] The revised guidelines also are intended to be easier to apply, which should allow attorneys to better predict the aggregate costs of litigation and, when incurring costs, to anticipate which of those costs likely will have to be paid by their clients. This increased predictability also should result in decreased costs. Next, as recognized in the preamble, the proposed guidelines revise the standard utilized by the trial court in reviewing requests for taxation of costs from costs that are reasonable to costs that are reasonably necessary. According to the report, the proposed guidelines would require, in most instances, that the initial burden of showing that a requested cost is reasonably necessary is on the moving party. However, with respect to costs for depositions and costs of copies of documents obtained in discovery, proposed guidelines I(A) [2] and I(B)(2) place the burden upon the objecting party to show that the costs were not reasonably necessary. We cannot approve shifting the burden in this manner; therefore, we have modified these guidelines so that the burden remains on the moving party. We also have modified proposed guideline I(B)(1) allowing costs for copies of documents admitted (in lieu of `actually cited') with the court, which assist the court in reaching a conclusion. For clarity's sake, we have changed the term admitted to filed and have added language to emphasize that the filed documents must be reasonably necessary to assist the court in reaching a conclusion. In connection with items of costs that shall be taxed, we also have changed the reference to special masters in proposed guideline I(F) to special magistrates to conform to chapter 2004-11, sections 54-58, 63-72, 78-84, 86-87, 93-97, 102, Laws of Florida, which redesignated special masters as special magistrates. See Amendments to Fla. Rules of App. Pro., 887 So.2d 1090 (Fla.2004) (amending rules of procedure to conform with chapter 2004-11, Laws of Florida.) Next, the proposed guidelines classify reasonable travel expenses of an attorney as an item of costs that may be taxed. We do not approve this classification because currently attorney travel expenses generally are not taxable. See Miller v. Hayman, 766 So.2d 1116 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000) (recognizing that in the absence of exceptional circumstances, travel expenses for attorney to attend depositions should not be taxed as costs). Specifically, cost item 3 of the current guidelines provides that [t]ravel expenses of prevailing attorney incurred in connection with the taking of depositions out of the City or State should not be taxed. Although case law cited by the Committee recognizes that there is no absolute bar to an award of costs for attorney travel expenses, see Barnes v. City of Dunedin, 666 So.2d 574 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996) (noting that, although generally taxation of costs for attorney travel expenses incurred is not allowed under guidelines, such costs have been allowed if provided for by contract or statute); Beyel Bros., Inc. v. Lemenze, 720 So.2d 556 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998) (affirming award of attorney's travel expenses in connection with deposition in light of statute), in the interest of promoting this Court's policy of decreasing overall litigation costs, we decline to include such costs in the category of those that may be taxed. Rather, we have modified the proposed guidelines to include such costs in the category of those that generally should not be taxed. Accordingly, with the modifications discussed above, we approve the revised Statewide Uniform Guidelines for Taxation of Costs in Civil Actions for publication and use, as set forth in the appendix to this opinion. The revised guidelines, which will replace the current guidelines, shall become effective January 1, 2006, at 12:01 a.m. We further direct that the guidelines be included as an appendix to the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure and be reviewed periodically by the Civil Procedure Rules Committee for future revision as needed. In conclusion, we wish to express our sincere gratitude for the tremendous efforts of the Civil Procedure Rules Committee in spearheading the arduous task of revising and improving the cost guidelines. The Committee's dedication of time and resources in thoroughly examining the guidelines and relevant case law, reviewing other state and federal guidelines, and in evaluating the input received from a broad spectrum of entities, including the Florida Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates and the Trial Lawyers Section of The Florida Bar, has been an invaluable service to this Court and ultimately, through the product of these efforts, to all Floridians. It is so ordered. PARIENTE, C.J., and WELLS, ANSTEAD, LEWIS, QUINCE, CANTERO, and BELL, JJ., concur.