Kushner v. Buhta
- Susan Nelson
- 0:16-cv-02646
- U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
- 6
In Kushner v. Buhta, Judge Nelson granted Kushner’s cost-review motion in part and denied it in part, leaving $266.45 in transcript costs.
Jordan S. Kushner, who was charged $266.45 in transcript costs, and the defendants, whose allowed cost award was reduced from $354.05 to $266.45.
What happened
In Kushner v. Buhta, the defendants sought $434.05 in costs connected to their successful appeal after the court granted summary judgment against Jordan S. Kushner and dismissed his complaint with prejudice. The Clerk allowed $354.05, all for hearing transcripts.
Kushner asked the court to remove the transcript charges, arguing that the punitive-damages hearing was not part of the appeal and that no evidence was presented at the summary-judgment hearing. The defendants gave up their request for the $87.60 punitive-damages transcript but defended the remaining $266.45 charge.
Judge Susan Richard Nelson granted the motion in part and denied it in part. She removed the $87.60 charge but upheld the $266.45 cost for the summary-judgment hearing transcript, finding that it was reasonably necessary for the appeal. The Clerk was ordered to amend the cost judgment to $266.45.
The detailed version
- Kushner v. Buhta · No. 0:16-cv-02646
- Susan Nelson
- Nov. 1, 2019
Background
The court previously granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment and dismissed Jordan S. Kushner’s complaint with prejudice. The Eighth Circuit affirmed that ruling. The defendants then submitted a bill of costs seeking $434.05 for their unsuccessful appeal-related expenses, including $354.05 in transcript fees for an August 10, 2017 punitive-damages hearing and a November 15, 2017 summary-judgment hearing.
The Clerk of Court disallowed $80 and allowed $354.05 in taxable costs. “Taxable costs” are litigation expenses that may be charged to the opposing party under applicable rules and statutes. Kushner moved for review of the cost judgment. The defendants waived the $87.60 charge for the punitive-damages hearing transcript but continued to seek $266.45 for the summary-judgment hearing transcript.
Court’s analysis
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(d)(1) generally allows costs, other than attorney’s fees, to the prevailing party. Section 1920 of Title 28 permits fees for transcripts that were necessarily obtained for use in the case. The court noted that a transcript need not actually be used in another proceeding if it was reasonably necessary when obtained.
The court found that the summary-judgment transcript reasonably appeared necessary for the defendants’ use in responding to Kushner’s appeal. During that hearing, Kushner stated that his official-capacity claims against President Eric W. Kaler and Lieutenant Troy Buhta were moot and agreed that they could be dismissed. The court’s later summary-judgment order referred to that concession, although the hearing transcript was not yet in the record when the order was issued. Kushner nevertheless included Kaler among the appellees in his appeal materials. The court concluded that the transcript could help establish that Kushner had abandoned his claims against Kaler and therefore was necessarily obtained for use in the case.
Ruling
Judge Susan Richard Nelson granted Kushner’s Motion for Review of Cost Judgment in part and denied it in part. The court removed the $87.60 transcript fee for the August 10, 2017 punitive-damages hearing and denied relief as to the $266.45 transcript fee for the November 15, 2017 summary-judgment hearing. The Clerk was directed to amend the Cost Judgment to reflect allowed transcript costs totaling $266.45.
Read the full 6-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.