District, the parties need not appear at the date and time scheduled for taxation.
The Committee recommends that Local Civil Rule 54.1(c)(1) remain unchanged. It is
authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 1920(2), which allows taxation of “fees for printed or
electronically recorded transcripts necessarily obtained for use in this case.”
The Committee recommends that Local Civil Rule 54.1(c)(2) remain unchanged. 28
U.S.C. § 1920 does not by its terms specifically address costs related to depositions.
However, the practice of taxing the expenses of a deposition when it is received in
evidence or employed on a successful motion for summary judgment is widespread and
can be regarded as authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 1920(2) as “expenses for transcripts
necessarily obtained for use in this case.” See 10 Charles Alan Wright & Arthur R.
Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2676 (3d ed. 1998) (“There is general agreement
that expenses of a deposition may be taxed as costs when it was received in evidence.”);
7 James WM. Moore et al., Moore’s Federal Practice § 54.103(3)(c)(i) (3d ed. 2011)
(Ҥ1920 also contains several provisions for the recovery of costs that, alone or in
conjunction, have been interpreted to permit the awarding of the routine expenses
incurred in taking depositions.”). See also Anderson v. City of New York, 132 F. Supp. 2d
239, 246 (S.D.N.Y. 2001) (allowing deposition transcripts to be taxed as costs under §
1920).
Joint Local Rules, S.D.N.Y. and E.D.N.Y.
Effective January 2, 2026
The Committee recommends that Local Civil Rule 54.1(c)(3) remain unchanged. This
subsection is authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 1920(3), which allows taxation of “fees and
disbursements for printing and witnesses.”
The Committee recommends that the second sentence of Local Civil Rule 54.1(c)(4) be
deleted in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Taniguchi v. Kan Pacific Saipan, Ltd., 132
S. Ct. 1997 (2012). The rest of Local Civil Rule 54.1(c)(4) is authorized by § 1920(6),
which allows taxation of “compensation of court appointed experts, compensation of
interpreters, and salaries, fees, expenses, and costs of special interpretation services”
under 28 U.S.C. § 1828.
The Committee recommends that Local Civil Rule 54.1(c)(5) remain unchanged. This
subsection is authorized by § 1920(4), which allows taxation of “fees for exemplification
and the costs of making copies of any materials where the copies are necessarily
obtained for use in this case.”
Courts in other circuits have begun to address the question whether and to what extent
the costs of electronic discovery can be taxed as costs of copying or exemplification. See,
e.g., Race Tires America, Inc. v. Hoosier Racing Tire Corp., 674 F.3d 158 (3d Cir. 2012).
Particularly in the absence of authoritative guidance from the Second Circuit on this
issue, the Committee has concluded that it is premature to address this question in
Local Civil Rule 54.1(c).
The Committee recommends that Local Civil Rule 54.1(c)(6) remain unchanged. This
subsection is authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 1920(4), which allows taxation of “fees for
exemplification and the costs of making copies of any materials where the copies are
necessarily obtained for use in this case.”
The Committee recommends that Local Civil Rule 54.1(c)(7) be retained, because it does
not authorize taxation of any costs, but instead serves a useful purpose by pointing out
that attorney’s fees are addressed in Fed. R. Civ. P. 54 and are not taxable except by
order of the Court. For the reasons explained in the Committee Note to Local Civil Rule
54.1(a), the Committee recommends that the Local Rule refer the reader to Fed. R. Civ.
P. 54 for the time period within which attorney’s fees must be sought.
The Committee recommends that Local Civil Rule 54.1(c)(8) remain unchanged.
Although 28 U.S.C. § 1920 does not by its terms address fees for masters, receivers, or
Joint Local Rules, S.D.N.Y. and E.D.N.Y.
Effective January 2, 2026
commissioners, Fed. R. Civ. P. 53(g) authorizes the Court to allocate payment for a
master’s compensation, and commentators have observed that appropriate
expenditures incurred in connection with a special master may be taxed as costs by the
prevailing party. 10 Fed. Prac. & Proc. Civ. §2677 (3d ed.).
The Committee recommends that Local Civil Rule 54.1(c)(9) remain unchanged. This
subsection is authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 1920(4), which allows a taxation of “fees for
exemplification and the costs of making copies of any materials where the copies are
necessarily obtained for use in this case.”
The Committee recommends that Local Civil Rule 54.1(c)(10) remain unchanged. This
subsection is authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 1920(5), which allows taxation of docket fees
under 28 U.S.C. § 1923.
2024 COMMITTEE NOTE
In light of the withdrawal of Local Rule 30.1, a corresponding change has been made
here to remove attorney’s fees from the list of taxable costs.
