United States District Court Affirms Clerk’s Order Taxing Costs in Favor of G&S Client

On July 14, 2016, United States District Court Judge Peter J. Messitte entered an Opinion affirming the Clerk’s Order to tax $13,405.11 in costs to Defendants Rent-A-Wreck of America, Inc. and Bundy American, LLC (“Rent-A-Wreck). The Opinion requires Rent-A-Wreck to reimburse Gordon & Simmons’ client, David Schwartz (“Schwartz”), for expenses, totaling over $13,000, that he incurred throughout the nearly decade-long litigation.

The firm of Gordon & Simmons and Roger Simmons briefed the issues with the Clerk, and later Judge Messitte, and sought to recover costs for Schwartz relating to filing fees, private process server fees, transcript fees, document copies, and deposition expenses for multiple witnesses. Federal rules allow the “prevailing party” to be awarded his/her costs in litigation, and, in his Opinion, Judge Messitte stated that “Schwartz is thus unquestionably the ‘prevailing party’ in this litigation” and affirmed the Clerk’s order taxing costs against Rent-A-Wreck.