Opinion
No. 7:12-CV-2-D
04-05-2014
MAURICE ROCHA, Plaintiff, v. COASTAL CAROLINA NEUROPSYCHIATRY CRISIS SERVICES, P.A.,
ORDER
Defendant Coastal Carolina Neuropsychiatric Crisis Services, P.A.'s application for costs and attorney's fees [D.E. 142, 145] is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. Defendant shall have and recover from plaintiff the sum of $1,662.17 for taxable costs. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(d)(1); Local Civil Rule 54.1. Defendant's request to recover legal research charges as "costs" is DENIED because district courts are not authorized to tax legal research charges as costs. See 28 U.S.C. § 1920; Country Vintner of N.C., LLC v. E. & J. Gallo Winery, Inc., 718 F.3d 249, 254-57 (4th Cir. 2013); Silicon Knights, Inc. v. Epic Games, Inc., 917 F. Supp. 2d 503, 510-11 (E.D.N.C. 2012); see also, e.g., Attrezzi, LLC v. Maytae Corp., 436 F.3d 32, 43 (1st Cir. 2006) (explaining that legal research charges are properly classified as attorneys' fees, not as costs); Haroco, Inc. v. Am. Nat'l Bank & Trust Co. of Chi., 38 F.3d 1429, 1440-41 (7th Cir. 1994) (same). Defendant's request for $134,104.00 in attorney's fees is DENIED because plaintiff's claim was not frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation. See Christiansburg Garment Co. v. EEOC, 434 U.S. 412, 421-22 (1978); cf. EEOC v. Propak Logistics, Inc., No. 13-1687, 2014 WL 1199493, at *5-7 (4th Cir. Mar. 25, 2014).
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JAMES C. DEVER III
Chief United States District Judge