Judge: Kevin C. Brazile, Case: 23STCV14255, Date: 2025-03-11 Tentative Ruling

Hearing Date: March 11, 2025

Case Name: Olbert v. Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC, et al.

Case No.: 19STCV11486

Matter: Motion to Tax Costs

Moving Party: Plaintiff Sarah Olbert

Responding Party: Defendant Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC

Notice: OK

Ruling: The Motion is denied.

Moving party to give notice.

The Court encourages all parties to appear remotely via LA CourtConnect.  If submitting on the Court's tentative ruling, please follow the instructions provided above.

This is a lemon law action. 

Defendant MBUSA prevailed on an appeal and on December 3, 2024, filed a memorandum of costs on appeal in the amount of $1,319.03.

Plaintiff Sarah Olbert now seeks to strike Defendant’s costs as impermissible and unsubstantiated.

“If the items appearing in a cost bill appear to be proper charges, the burden is on the party seeking to tax costs to show that they were not reasonable or necessary.  On the other hand, if the items are properly objected to, they are put in issue and the burden of proof is on the party claiming them as costs.  Whether a cost item was reasonably necessary to the litigation presents a question of fact for the trial court and its decision is reviewed for abuse of discretion.”  (Ladas v. Cal. State Auto. Assn. (1993) 19 Cal.App.4th 761, 774.) 

The costs appear proper on their face, and Plaintiff failed to carry her burden to show otherwise.  

The Motion is denied.

Remittitur

On a separate note, the Court of Appeal reversed this Court’s award of attorneys’ fees, ruling that this Court should not have awarded any fees expended for the fee motion itself.  Pursuant to the remand and remittitur, this Court must eventually clarify the amount it should not have awarded for the fee motion.  The amount expended for the fee motion was $5,805.  The Court made a deduction of $2,400 for “for excessive time spent on the instant Motion and on discovery.”  The Court did not clarify specifically how much was deducted from the fee motion.  The Court would have deducted $1,200 from the fee motion.  So, in the end, the Court should not have awarded $4,605 for the fee motion.  This amount must be returned to MBUSA.  Hopefully further proceedings will not be necessary on this issue.  

Moving party to give notice.