Crippen v. Crippen

11 Paige Ch. 216
CourtNew York Court of Chancery
DecidedOctober 1, 1844
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 11 Paige Ch. 216 (Crippen v. Crippen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Court of Chancery primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Crippen v. Crippen, 11 Paige Ch. 216 (N.Y. 1844).

Opinion

The Chancellor.

The question, whether the costs to be paid under the agreement were the taxable costs as between the complainant’s solicitor and his client, or the taxable costs as between party and party, was one which it was no part of the duty of the taxing officer to decide. For the costs were not taxed under any decree or order of the court, but merely for the purpose of enabling the parties to carry their agreement into effect. If the complainant’s solicitor, therefore, had asked to have these bills of costs taxed as between solicitor and client, the vice chancellor should have so taxed them — stating in his certificate of taxation [219]*219that they were taxed as between solicitor and client, and not as between party and party. And if the defendant had asked to have the costs taxed as between party and party, he should also have taxed them in that way; stating, in his certificates of taxation, the amounts of the respective bills, in each mode of .taxing them. This would have enabled the proper tribunal, before Which the question might afterwards come for a decision, to determine whether the one amount or the other was payable) under the stipulation to compromise the suits. I shall not therefore attempt to determine the question, upon this appeal from the taxation, and upon conflicting affidavits as to what that stipulation was, whether the defendant is or is not bound to pay all the taxable costs for which the complainant is liable to his solicitor. The case would be different if the costs were payable under an order or decree of the court, and where it was necessary to give a construction to such order, or decree, for the purpose of ascertaining what amount of costs was to be paid; and to enable the court to enforce a compliance with such order or decree. I shall therefore proceed to ascertain what items in the bill of costs objected to, by the respective parties, and allowed by the taxing officer notwithstanding such objections, were properly taxable, either the one way or the other.

It was objected that the costs in the original suit, and those upon the bill of revivor and supplement, should all have been included in one bill of costs, so as to save the expense of double charges for separate bills of costs, notices of taxation, &c. It is unnecessary to consider that question here, as one of these bills embraces the costs upon an appeal, as to which this court has decided that a separate bill of costs may be made out and taxed. And the result is the same to the defendant, whether the whole costs are taxed in these two bills, in the form in which they were presented to the taxing officer, or the costs Upon the appeal only are embraced in one bill, and all the residue of the charges are included in the other.

In the first bill, the charges for copies of wilij deed and mortgage, to be annexed to draft of bill, are not taxable. For they are charged and allowed in the charges for the engrossment and [220]*220copies of the bill and schedules; and copies of schedules to be annexed to the draft áre wholly useless. The priginal matter in the amended bill, and in the affidavits annexed, is but 48 folios, instead of 141, as charged; and the remaining 93 folios should not have been taxed as for a draft, being merely copied from the original bill; and the charge for schedules annexed to the draft should also have been disallowed. The charge for engrossing the points was improper and should have been disallowed; and 'the copies afe overcharged. The copy of the amended bill, to serve, after the amendment had been allowed, and the amended bill had been filed-, was necessary, and was properly taxable; but a second copy to keep should not have been taxed, as the copy 'charged before the bill was amended was all that was necessary. With these deductions, the charges, as taxed by the vice chancellor, from the charge for the draft of the proposed amended bill, down to the notice of the argument of the demurrer to the amended bill, at August term, 1842, are properly taxable as between solicitor and client. But none of those charges would have been properly allowable as between party and party; as they were all rendered necessary in consequence of the neglect of the complainant to furnish his solicitor and Counsel with all the proper information, to enable them to draw the original bill right, in the first instance.

The charge for attending, at the August terni, in 1842, to argue 'the demurrer to the amended bill, was not taxable; as no allowance is made by the fee bill, in this court, for attending to argue a 'cause When'it is not reached. And the charge for solicitor’s fee on the order to refer the cause, where it is referred by the court upon calling'oVer the calendar for that purpose, w&s not taxable. Nor is the solicitor entitled to charge for the proposed decree to be entered upon the argument of a demurrer. That is only necessary 'or proper where thefe is something special in the case, requiring 'a draft of the decree, which the solicitor supposes his client entitled to, for the purpose of enabling the court to deter-. mine What relief it may be proper to grant. But no such information is necessary on the argument of a demurrer; as the demurrer is disallowed of course, and the defendant is required [221]*221to answer the bill, if the complainant succeeds upon the argument. The charge for solicito!- and counsel fee, at November term, 1842, was also improperly allowed, as the case was not argued; and the charge was too much, even if the demurrer had been argued at that time. The charges for copies of bill of costs, and'for the taxation, are also too high, as the sums charged are only allowable after a decree in the cause. But here had been no decree, and these services should therefore have been taxed at the lower rate, as fixed by the fee bill before decree. The charge for the engrossment of the amended bill was properly rejected by the taxing officer; as he had allowed for an engrossment of the proposed amended bill, and that was all that was necessary or proper to charge. The bill of costs in the first suit must therefore be taxed at $276,89, as between the solicitor of the complainant and his client; and at $143,10, as the amount at which it would be taxable between the complainant and the defendants, if there had been a decree for ’costs in his favor, against them; or, in other words, as the taxable costs as between party and party.

The first objection to the bill of costs in the second of the above entitled causes, is that retaining fees are not allowable upon a bill of revivor and supplement. Upon a mere supplemental bill, against the same parties, which is not also a supplemental suit, I think new retaining fees for the solicitor and counsel are not taxable. But where the suit has abated by the death of a party, and a new bill is necessary, not only to revive the suit against the heirs or representatives of the decedent, but also to bring new interests and new matters of litigation before the co.urt, as in this case, retaining fees ought to be allowed. For the reasons before stated, however, the copies of schedules to be annexed to the draft of the bill, should not have been allowed. The charge for attending the vice chancellor out of term, upon petition for a temporary injunction, was properly allowed, as the fee bill gives to the solicitor one dollar for such service. But that charge is not taxable where the injunction is allowed by the vice chancellor in his character of an injunction master merely, and not in the discharge of his duty as the judge of the court. [222]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
11 Paige Ch. 216, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crippen-v-crippen-nychanct-1844.