Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Texas

responsibility for paying court costs

In a case where court costs (specifically accounting fees) have been incurred and listed as charges to the court, if the plaintiffs decide to drop their civil litigation matter, who is responsible for the court costs? They exceed over $40,000, half of which has already been charged by the court to the plaintiffs. The Defendants listed the accountant involved as an Expert Witness. They met with the Expert and derived benefits from the accounting report to the extent that because of this information, they hired a consulting firm from a large city over 100 miles away to audit their business, since the accounting report alleged the possibility of Medicare Fraud had been engaged in by the Defendants.


Asked on 5/08/02, 6:01 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Peter Bradie Bradie, Bradie & Bradie

Re: responsibility for paying court costs

Depends on whether you are in state or federal court, and whether the defendant has filed a counterclaim.

If in state court, and no counterclaim, each party will bear their own costs.

In either state or federal court with a counterclaim, plaintiff dropping their action leaves the defendant to proceed unhindered; plaintiff may get tagged with everything.

In federal court, the judge will decide whether plaintiff can drop their cause, and who will bear the costs of court. Most likely the judge would award some, if not all, of the costs to the defendant after a hearing on the allocation of costs. Federal judges take a dim view of a plaintiff caving in, since it raises questions about the validity of the suit to begin with.

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Answered on 5/08/02, 6:42 pm


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