Windy Cove, Inc. v. Circle K Stores, Inc.

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedFebruary 1, 2024
Docket3:21-cv-01416
StatusUnknown

This text of Windy Cove, Inc. v. Circle K Stores, Inc. (Windy Cove, Inc. v. Circle K Stores, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Windy Cove, Inc. v. Circle K Stores, Inc., (S.D. Cal. 2024).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 WINDY COVE, INC. et al., Case No. 21-cv-1416-MMA-DEB

12 Plaintiffs, ORDER GRANTING IN PART 13 v. MOTION FOR ATTORNEY’S FEES; AND 14 CIRCLE K STORES, INC.,

15 Defendant. [Doc. No. 193]

16 GRANTING MOTION TO RE-TAX 17 COSTS

18 [Doc. No. 206] 19 20 21 22 Pending before the Court is Defendant’s motion for attorneys’ fees and motion to 23 re-tax costs. See Doc. Nos. 193, 206. Plaintiffs1 oppose both motions. See Doc. 24 Nos. 207, 211. The Court found these matters suitable for determination on the papers 25 26 27 1 For the sake of convenience, the Court refers to Windy Cove, Inc., Staffing and Management Group, Inc. d/b/a Kazmo, LLC, HB Fuel, Inc., Mohammad Bahour, and Hamid Kahour collectively as 28 1 and without oral argument pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 78(b) and Civil 2 Local Rule 7.1.d.1. For the reasons set forth below, the Court GRANTS Defendant’s 3 motion to retax costs and GRANTS IN PART Defendant’s motion for attorney’s fees. 4 I. BACKGROUND 5 On August 6, 2021, Plaintiffs initiated this action against Defendant, which 6 generally speaking, stems from the parties’ fuel-supplying relationship. See Doc. No. 1. 7 On January 5, 2022, Plaintiffs filed their First Amended Complaint asserting claims for 8 (1) breach of contract – breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing; (2) declaratory 9 relief; and (3) unfair business practices in violation of California Business and 10 Professions Code § 17200, et seq. Doc. No. 27 (“FAC”). 11 On September 7, 2023, the Court granted Defendant’s motion for summary 12 judgment in its entirety and denied Plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment. 13 Doc. No. 190. Because this case involves confidential and proprietary information, the 14 Court’s Summary Judgment Order was filed under seal. On September 21, 2023, 15 Defendant filed its motion for attorney’s fees. Doc. No.193. That same day, Defendant 16 submitted to the Clerk of Court a Bill of Costs. Doc. No. 194. On September 26, 2023, 17 the Court issued a redacted version of its Summary Judgment Order, see Doc. No. 198, 18 and a Clerk’s Judgment was issued that same day, see Doc. No. 199. On October 4, 19 2023, Plaintiffs objected to the Bill of Costs. Doc. No. 200. 20 The Clerk of Court taxed Defendant’s costs at $0.00 because the Bill of Costs was 21 filed before the entry of judgment. Doc. No. 203. Thereafter, Defendant filed a motion 22 to re-tax costs pursuant to Civil Local Rule 54.1(h). Doc. No. 206. 23 II. MOTION TO RE-TAX COSTS 24 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(d)(1) provides that “[u]nless a federal statute, 25 these rules, or a court order provides otherwise, costs—other than attorney’s fees— 26 should be allowed to the prevailing party.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(d)(1). This rule “creates a 27 presumption in favor of awarding costs to a prevailing party, but vests in the district court 28 discretion to refuse to award costs.” Ass’n of Mexican-American Educ. v. State of Cal., 1 231 F.3d 572, 591 (9th Cir. 2000) (en banc). To deny costs to the prevailing party, the 2 district court must specify its reasoning. Id. This is “in essence, a requirement that the 3 court explain why a case is not ‘ordinary’ and why, in the circumstances, it would be 4 inappropriate or inequitable to award costs.” Id. at 593. The Ninth Circuit has explained 5 that some “[a]ppropriate reasons for denying costs include: (1) the substantial public 6 importance of the case, (2) the closeness and difficulty of the issues in the case, (3) the 7 chilling effect on future similar actions, (4) the plaintiff’s limited financial resources, and 8 (5) the economic disparity between the parties.” Escriba v. Foster Poultry Farms, Inc., 9 743 F.3d 1236, 1247–48 (9th Cir. 2014). All of these circumstances need not be present 10 for a district court to refuse to award costs. Draper v. Rosario, 836 F.3d 1072, 1087 (9th 11 Cir. 2016). 12 Here, Defendant is the prevailing party and is therefore presumptively entitled to 13 recover costs. Nevertheless, the Bill of Costs was denied in its entirety because, as noted 14 above, Defendant filed its request after being awarded summary judgment but before 15 entry of the Clerk’s Judgment. See Doc. No. 203. “Under the well-established Rule 16 54(d)(1) case law, the district court is charged with making a de novo review of the 17 clerk’s determination of the costs issue.” Asis Internet Servs. v. Optin Glob., Inc., No. C- 18 05-5124 JCS, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 103932, at *8 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 17, 2008) (quoting 19 In re Paoli R.R. Yard PCB Litigation, 221 F.3d 449, 461 (3d Cir. 2000) (itself citing10 20 Moore’s Federal Practice, § 54.100[3], at 54-145)). 21 A de novo review of the Clerk’s Office determination that Defendant was not 22 entitled to costs reveals that Defendant is, in fact, entitled to recover costs. Federal Rule 23 of Civil Procedure 54(a) clearly states that “judgment” includes “a decree and any order 24 from which an appeal lies.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(a). The Court’s September 7, 2023 25 Summary Judgment Order is a final, appealable order as defined by Rule 54. In fact, at 26 the time the Clerk’s Office reviewed the Bill of Costs, an appeal had already been taken 27 from the Order. See Doc. No. 201. The Civil Local Rules “must be construed so as to be 28 consistent with [the Federal Rules] and to promote the just, efficient and economical 1 determination of every action and proceeding.” CivLR 1.1.c. To the extent the Clerk’s 2 Office applied Civil Local Rule 54.1.a in this instance to require Defendant to wait until 3 after the entry of judgment to file a Bill of Costs, see CivLR 54.1.a, such an application 4 was inconsistent with the Federal Rules. And it was neither efficient nor economical to 5 deny a Bill of Costs in this unusual circumstance where the entry of judgment was 6 delayed by nearly three weeks. 7 Before addressing Plaintiffs’ objections, the Court notes that it finds the 8 unchallenged costs taxable under the applicable law. 28 U.S.C. § 1920(1) (permitting 9 fees of the clerk as taxable); id. § 1920(3) (permitting fees for witnesses as taxable); see 10 also 28 U.S.C.S. § 1821(b) (“A witness shall be paid an attendance fee of $40 per day for 11 each day’s attendance.”). 12 Turning to the briefing on Defendant’s motion, Plaintiffs do not argue that 13 Defendant is not entitled to recover costs. Rather, Plaintiffs assert that Defendant should 14 not be permitted to recover the costs associated with obtaining three deposition 15 transcripts. See Doc. No. 211. According to Plaintiffs, because Defendant did not utilize 16 these transcripts at summary judgment, they are not recoverable. Id. at 3. 17 The three challenged deposition costs are: (1) Defendant’s expert witness, 18 Jacqueline Benyamini, $802.50; (2) Defendant’s employee, Stephen Jennison, $1,192.70; 19 and (3) Defendant’s employee Marcello B. Ciminelli, $913.40. As such, Plaintiffs object 20 to the recovery of $2,908.60.

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Windy Cove, Inc. v. Circle K Stores, Inc., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/windy-cove-inc-v-circle-k-stores-inc-casd-2024.