Court Opinion

ID: 9613231
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 04:15:25.21929+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:03:26.908008
License: Public Domain

CONNOR, Justice,
with whom COATS, Judge, joins, dissenting in part.
I disagree with the majority opinion as to the expert witness fees. I believe that the trial judge has discretion to award fees to an expert witness in excess of $25.00 per hour under that part of Civil Rule 79(b) which reads:
In addition to the items allowed as costs by law and in these rules, a party shall be allowed any other expenses necessarily incurred in order to enable a party to secure some right accorded him in the action or proceeding.
Expert witnesses are frequently necessary to bring or defend a lawsuit. The fees of expert witnesses called by private litigants are a matter of negotiation between the expert and the litigant. It is well-known that these fees can vary greatly, depending upon the subject matter and the particular field of expertise as to which the expert may testify. The trial court needs to have the discretion to award expert witness fees in order for the prevailing party to recover some of the necessary costs of litigation. In my view, Civil Rule 79(b) gives the trial judge this authority.1

. I note that Administrative Rule 7(c) (former Administrative Rule 9(c)) allows compensation to an expert witness not to “exceed $25.00 per hour while so employed and testifying.” (Emphasis added.) The rule by its terms appears to only cover fees for expert witnesses while they are testifying. The rule does not appear to address what compensation, if any, the expert witness can receive for time necessarily spent which does not involve actually testifying.