Court Opinion

ID: 9479328
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 07:14:50.630488+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:46:57.504796
License: Public Domain

BREYER, Circuit Judge
(concurring).
The witness fee limitation contained in 28 U.S.C. § 1821 says that a “witness shall be paid an attendance fee of $30 per day for each day’s attendance” (along with certain related transportation costs) (emphasis added). Given the Supreme Court’s holding in Crawford Fitting Co. v. J.T. Gibbons, Inc., 482 U.S. 437, 107 S.Ct. 2494, 96 L.Ed.2d 385 (1987), I agree that the plaintiffs in this case cannot obtain more than $30 per day for the attendance at trial of an expert witness. The plaintiffs in this case, however, have not asked for recovery of money that attorneys might reasonably have spent paying experts for non-attendance activities. Experts’ activities may involve far more than simply appearing in court; they could include helping prepare the case, and could be work that, like that of, say, a private investigator, might fall within the scope of “a reasonable attorney’s fee.” See, e.g., § 706(k) of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(k) (authorizing award of “a reasonable attorney’s fee”); 42 U.S.C. § 1988 (same); SapaNajin v. Gunter, 857 F.2d 463, 465 (8th Cir.1988) (finding expenses for expert’s non-attendance activity award-able under § 1988 in excess of § 1821 cap); Culebras Enterprises Corp. v. Rivera-Rios, 846 F.2d 94, 102-03 (1st Cir.1988) (similar); In re Air Crash Disaster at John F. Kennedy Int’l Airport on June 24 1975, 687 F.2d 626, 631 (2d Cir.1982) (awarding expenses for expert’s non-attendance activity under 28 U.S.C. § 1920(4)). See also Independent Federation of Flight Attendants v. Zipes, — U.S. -, - n. 2, 109 S.Ct. 2732, 2735 n. 2, 105 L.Ed.2d 639 (1989) (the identical fee-shifting phrases in Title VII § 706(k) and 42 U.S.C. § 1988 “are to be interpreted alike”); Missouri v. Jenkins, — U.S. -, -, 109 S.Ct. 2463, 2470-72, 105 L.Ed.2d 229 (1989) (phrase “attorney’s fee” in § 1988 means a “fully compensatory fee” covering the expenses of persons retained by the attorney and traditionally repaid to the attorney by a fee-paying client). On this understanding, I join the court’s opinion.