Opinion ID: 2631240
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Deposition of Plaintiff's Expert Witness

Text: ¶ 13 The trial court awarded the hospital $587.25 for the deposition of plaintiff's expert witness. The hospital claims that the trial court did not exceed the permitted range of discretion in awarding this amount because the expert witness's deposition was used at trial and was the most critical deposition in terms of the development of the hospital's case. The hospital argues that but for [the expert witness's] willingness to criticize the care rendered by the Hospital, Plaintiff could not have gotten this case before the trial judge, and that without the ability to depose the expert, the hospital would not have been able to develop its defense against plaintiff's claim. While this may be true, the trial court did not provide any findings indicating that the amount the hospital paid for the deposition was awarded on this basis. As stated above, this court cannot determine whether the trial court exceeded the permitted range of discretion in awarding costs if the court is not provided with findings on how the deposition was essential to the prevailing party's case. We therefore reverse and remand this issue for further findings and revision as appropriate.