Opinion ID: 2310837
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Witness and Expert Witness Fees

Text: Varma contests both the number of witnesses for which fees were allowed and the amount of each fee award, contending that the trial judge should have awarded witness fees for deposition witnesses in addition to trial witnesses, and that he is entitled to expert witness fees in excess of the statutory amount. We disagree. The awarding of witness fees is controlled by Super.Ct.Civ.R. 54-I(a), which requires proof of the attendance of witnesses by certificate of the attorney of record. The certificate of witnesses' attendance filed by Varma's attorney listed only the six expert witnesses who appeared at trial. The trial judge allowed witness fees for each of those witnesses. The awarding of costs of depositions is provided for under Super.Ct.Civ.R. 54-I(b). The Rule makes no mention of expert witness fees for depositions, and we have been cited no case law in this jurisdiction awarding expert witness fees for depositions pursuant to Rule 54-I(b). Accord Burns, supra, 119 Daily Wash.L.Rptr. at 1874 & n. 13. Because such fees are not specifically authorized by statute and there is no precedent in this jurisdiction for awarding such fees, the trial judge did not abuse her discretion in declining to award them. Varma also argues that he is entitled to expert witness fees in excess of the statutory amount, citing cases from the federal courts that were decided prior to 1987. Varma correctly looks to the federal courts for guidance on this issue: as Judge Levie explained in Burns, supra, 119 Daily Wash. L.Rptr. at 1874, because we have not, until now, decided this issue, federal cases interpreting FED.R.CIV.P. 54 are persuasive when we interpret Super.Ct.Civ.R. 54. See, e.g., Ingber, supra, 479 A.2d at 1266 n. 13. In addition, various provisions of the D.C.Code dealing with witnesses incorporate 28 U.S.C. §§ 1821 and 1920. See D.C.Code §§ 11-743, 11-946, 15-714(b) (1995 Repl.). However, Varma is mistaken in asserting that the federal cases require the result he seeks. In 1987, the Supreme Court held in Crawford Fitting Co., supra, 482 U.S. at 441, 107 S.Ct. at 2497, that 28 U.S.C. § 1821(b) limits a court's authority to shift witness fees, as provided in 28 U.S.C. 1920(3), to the statutory amount in the absence of express legislation to the contrary. Id. at 439, 107 S.Ct. at 2496; see also West Virginia Univ. Hosp., Inc. v. Casey, 499 U.S. 83, 87, 111 S.Ct. 1138, 1141, 113 L.Ed.2d 68 (1991). We agree with Judge Levie that the federal statutory limit applies to expert witness fees provided for under Super.Ct.Civ.R. 54 and 54-I. See Burns, supra, 119 Daily Wash.L.Rptr. at 1874 and n. 11. Therefore we hold that the trial court did not err in limiting the allowance for expert witness fees to the current federal statutory per diem amount. For the reasons stated, the judgments in all four appeals are Affirmed.