Opinion ID: 797364
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Discovery Costs

Text: 28 Questions of law, such as a district court's interpretation of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, are reviewed de novo. Odom v. Frank, 3 F.3d 839, 843 (5th Cir.1993). We review the district court's decisions regarding 26(b)(4)(C) fees for abuse of discretion. Research Sys. Corp. v. IPSOS Publicite, 276 F.3d 914, 920 (7th Cir.2002). 29 FED. R. CIV. P. 26(b)(4)(C) provides that if a court allows the deposition of an expert who will testify at trial, the court must order the discovering party to compensate the expert for his time, unless manifest injustice would result. Additionally, the court has discretion to order the party seeking discovery to pay the other party a fair portion of the fees and expenses reasonably incurred by the latter party in obtaining facts and opinions from the expert. 30 The district court's determination regarding discovery costs was not an abuse of discretion. Appellants concede that their billed expenses were quite large but argue that this case required twice the normal effort. The only changes the district court made, reducing Dr. Levy's billing rate by $100, limiting the billed preparation time of appellant's two expert witnesses to fifteen and twelve hours, and subtracting time spent at lunch or recess from Dr. Levy's billed deposition time, were reasonable deductions. Rule 26(b)(4)(C) limits discovery costs to those reasonable fees spent responding to discovery. When parties submit their discovery costs, the district court has discretion to limit or alter those costs if they appear to be unreasonable. See Chambers v. Ingram, 858 F.2d 351, 361 (7th Cir.1988). 31 Additionally, the appellants also failed to cite any legal authorities supporting their contention that Daubert expenses are allowable under FED. R. CIV. P. 26(b)(4)(C). A Daubert hearing is not a discovery proceeding but an evidentiary hearing designed to screen expert testimony. See Daubert, 509 U.S. at 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786. Appellants fail to give any persuasive legal argument as to why FED. R. CIV. P. 26 should be extended outside the discovery context.