Skeoch v. Ottley

• Decision Date: 04 January 1968
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 100-1963.
• Citation: 278 F. Supp. 314
• Parties: Gordon M. SKEOCH, Plaintiff, v. Earle B. OTTLEY et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Virgin Islands

278 F. Supp. 314

Gordon M. SKEOCH, Plaintiff, v. Earle B. OTTLEY et al., Defendants.

Civ. No. 100-1963.

District Court, Virgin Islands, D. St. Croix.

January 4, 1968.

Young & Isherwood, Christiansted, St. Croix, V. I., for plaintiff. Warren Young, Christiansted, St. Croix, V. I., of counsel.

Birch, Maduro, deJongh, & Farrelly, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, V. I., for Earle B. Ottley, and others, John L. Maduro, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, V. I., and Shea & Gardner, Alfred L. Scanlan, Washington, D. C, of counsel.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

WALTER A. GORDON, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on the motion of the defendants to tax costs incurred in the successful defense of the case both at trial and on appeal. Defendants' total cost bill amounts to $15,196.38. It is objected to by plaintiff insofar as the sum represents fees for "imported" counsel and fees incurred on the appeal of the case. The motion came on for hearing at the November, 1967, term of the Court in St. Croix. Both sides appeared by counsel who argued the matter and submitted briefs.

I

Plaintiff argues that 5 V.I.C. § 541, applies only to proceedings in the District and Municipal Courts of the Virgin Islands, and that the statute does not contemplate proceedings in the Circuit Court of Appeals. The Court does not find it necessary to determine this issue, as it is of the opinion that it is for the Circuit Court of Appeals to decide what costs it shall allow and that any petition for costs incurred on appeal should be addressed to that Court.

It is clear that in suits before the District Court, attorneys' fees are recoverable as an item of costs. Whether they are likewise recoverable for appeals in the Third Circuit would seem to depend upon the reading that Court would give to Section 541, and to Section 25 of the Revised Organic Act. While it does not appear that the Third Circuit has been presented with a petition for attorneys' fees as an item of costs, it does appear that the award of costs in this appeal was limited to the printing of the brief and appendix under the authority of 28 U.S.C. § 1913, and Rule 54, of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

It should be noted that this case was a local matter and as such was held by the Court under local rules of practice. It is true that these rules are those promulgated for the United States Courts by the Supreme Court, but it is also true that in some matters, by virtue of Territorial Legislation, there are significant departures from the Federal Rules, one of the most prominent being the enactment in question providing that attorneys' fees are recoverable as an item of costs. Only in exceptional circumstances is this the case under Federal Rule 54.

But whether or not section 541 was meant to apply to matters taken to the Court of Appeals, and whether or not the Court of Appeals is bound in any way by this local rule seems to be a matter exclusively for that Court to determine. This is especially true in light of the Third Circuit's decision in Callwood v. Callwood, 233 F.2d 784, 3 V.I. 579, holding that the Revised Organic Act makes the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and not local rules applicable to appeals from the District Court of the Virgin Islands.

Assuming, arguendo, that section 541 was meant to apply to appeals, and that it does in fact apply to appeals of local matters to the Third Circuit, it would still seem that the Appellate Court would be the proper body to petition for costs incurred in representing clients before that Court. There is a close analogy in Federal civil anti-trust cases where attorneys' fees are specifically allowed as a part of the recovery. In these matters it appears to be the appellate court which has determined what is to be allowed as attorneys' fees for prosecuting or defending an appeal. (Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. v. Goldwyn, 9 Cir., 328 F.2d 190, cert.den. 379 U.S. 880, 85 S.Ct. 143, 13 L.Ed.2d 87, award of $100,000, in counsel fees by trial court, additional award of $5,000 by appellate court; American Crystal Sugar Co. v. Mandeville Island Farms, 9 Cir., 195 F.2d 622, cert. den. 343 U.S. 957, 72 S.Ct. 1052, 96 L.Ed. 1357, award of $25,000 by trial court, additional award of $4,000 by appellate court).

There is some authority for the proposition that a District Court does have the power to award appellate costs, although Schauffler v. United Association of Journeymen, D.C., 148 F.Supp. 704, affd. 3 Cir., 246 F.2d 867, seems to turn on its special facts as a contempt proceeding brought by the National Labor Relations Board. And even in that case, the trial judge...