Johnson v. Foret

186 So. 3d 812, 15 La.App. 3 Cir. 943, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 415, 2016 WL 807437
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 2, 2016
DocketNo. 15-943
StatusPublished

This text of 186 So. 3d 812 (Johnson v. Foret) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Johnson v. Foret, 186 So. 3d 812, 15 La.App. 3 Cir. 943, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 415, 2016 WL 807437 (La. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

AMY, Judge.

LAs a result of a previous appeal, judgment was entered against the defendant herein and he was cast with costs. The deféñdant satisfied the judgment. However, the Clerk of Court demanded payment of court costs before entering the satisfaction óf judgment into the record. The defendant filed a motion seeking to reduce court costs on the basis that they were excessive.- After a hearing, the trial court granted the motion and entered judgment reducing the costs.- The Clerk of Court appeals. For the following reasons, we reverse and award attorney fees: -

Factual and Procedural Background

This litigation originates from a medical malpractice action filed by the plaintiff, Terry Lee Johnson, Sr., against the defendant, Lynn E. Foret, M.D. The record indicates that the parties submitted the matter for decision by the trial court based on documentary evidence in lieu of live testimony. The trial court found in favor of Dr. Foret. However, Mr. Johnson appealed. In Johnson v. Foret, 13-446, p. 26 (La.App. 3 Cir. 6/18/14), 146 So.3d 614, 629-30, a panel of this court reversed the trial court’s judgment and awarded damages “in favor of Mr. Terry Lee Johnson, Sr. and against Lynn E. Foret, M.D., in the amount of $100,000.00, plus legal interest from March 19, 2007, the date of judicial demand until paid, plus all court costs. [814]*814All costs of this appeal are assessed against Lynn E. Foret, M.D.”

The record reflects that thereafter Dr. Foret paid the $100,000.00 judgment and Mr. Johnson executed a Satisfaction of Judgment and Acknowledgement of Payment. According to Dr. Foret, when he submitted the Satisfaction of Judgment for filing, his attorney:

| ¿received notice from the-Calcasieu Parish Clerk of Court ... that the Satisfaction of Judgment and Acknowledgment of Payment would not be filed, but was being held for a deposit of $15,586.84 by Appellee, that total presumably being the total of court costs in this matter. A copy of the Clerk’s ledger was merely forwarded to [the attorney] with no explanation for the excessive court cost amount.

Dr. Foret subsequently filed a Motion to Reduce Costs, which the trial court granted and reduced the costs to $8,000.00. However, upon learning that H.. Lynn Jones, II, in his official capacity as the duly elected Clerk of Court of Calcasieu Parish, was not notified of the hearing, the parties agreed to withdraw the initially-granted judgment and reset the matter for a hearing. After a hearing, the trial court again granted the motion and reduced the costs to $10,000.00.

The Clerk appeals, asserting that the trial court erred in granting the Motion to Reduce Costs and requesting attorney fees.1

Discussion

Reduction of Costs

In support of his assignment of error, the Clerk asserts that the trial court only had the authority to reduce the fees if they were excessive; - that the fees, in this matter were not excessive; and that the trial court reduced the fees on the basis of equity. The Clerk also requests attorney fees.

The gist of the Clerk’s argument is that the fees in this matter were statutorily authorized by La.R.S. 13:841 and that there is no authority which would allow a trial court to reduce the fees absent a finding that they are excessive. Dr. Foret contends that the assessment of costs'is within the trial court’s discretion and | sthat it was not an abuse of discretion for the trial court to reduce the amount of court costs “for reasons of fairness and equity.”

The costs and/or fees at issue encompass both trial costs.and appellate costs. Louisiana Revised Statutes 13:841 is entitled “Enumeration of-fees in civil matters; miscellaneous” and provides, in pertinent part, that:

A. The clerks of the several district courts may be entitled to demand and receive fees of office, which fees may be less than, but shall not exceed, the amounts set forth in this Section. Any clerk of court that establishes procedures for the filing, receipt, or issuance of any of the following documents by electronic means shall establish fees for the filing, receipt, or issuance of electronic documents that shall not exceed the fee that would apply if the document was received, filed, or issued in paper.
(1) Initialization fee, twenty dollars.
(2) Filing document:
(a) First page, six dollars.
(b) Each subsequent page, four dollars,
(c) Exhibits up to eight and one-half inches by fourteen inches, includ[815]*815ing but not limited to attachments, transcripts, and depositions, two dollars per page.
(d) All paper exhibits larger than eight and one-half inches by fourteen inches, five dollars per page and all other exhibits, five dollars per exhibit.
(3) Indexing each name, two dollars.
(4)(a) Issuing document with' notice of service, twenty dollars.
(b) Issuing document without notice of service, fifteen dollars.
(5)(a) Certification of copy, five dollars.
(b) Act of congress, five dollars;
(e) Conformed copies, three dollars.
(6) Copies per page, one dollar.
U(7) Minute entries', five dollars.
(8) Swearing of witnesses and jurors, two dollars.
(9) United States Postal Service and common carriers, costs actually incurred.
(10) Appeals (per original document page) complete preparation of all copies ' and volumes, five dollars'.
(11) to (77) Repealed by Acts 20Ó6, No. 243, § 2.
B. The funds derived by the clerk of court in the parish of Calcasieu from that portion of the fees collectable pursuant to this Section above the amount of such fees collectable at the rates provided by R.S. 13:841 prior to the amendment thereof at the 1981 Regular Session of the Legislature shall be expended exclusively for the payment of salaries of deputy clerks of court in that parish.
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D. In addition to the fees provided in Subsection A of this Section, the clerks of the several district courts may demand and receive additional fees for issuing a marriage license, fifteen dollars, and each copy, .five dollars.

With regard to the costs of appeal, La. Code Civ.P. art. 2126(A) also provides that “[t]he clerk of the trial court, immediately after the order of appeal has been granted, shall estimate the cost of the preparation of the record on appeal, including the fee of the court reporter for preparing the transcript and the filing fee required-by the appellate court.” The appellant has •twenty days after the mailing of the notice to pay the estimated costs of appeal, although the trial court may extend that period for not more than twenty days upon a showing of good cause, La.Code Civ.P. art. 2126(B).

The article addressing the payment of appeal costs does provide a mechanism for seeking a reduction in the costs of appeal. Specifically, LaiCode Civ.P. art.

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Johnson v. Foret
146 So. 3d 614 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2014)
Johnson v. Foret
179 So. 3d 812 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2015)
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Bluebook (online)
186 So. 3d 812, 15 La.App. 3 Cir. 943, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 415, 2016 WL 807437, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-foret-lactapp-2016.