JAMES D. WHITTEMORE, District Judge.
Before the Court is Defendant's Motion to Tax Attorneys' Fees and Costs (Dkt. 151) and Plaintiffs opposition (Dkt. 156). Upon consideration, Defendant's motion is DENIED to the extent it seeks attorneys' fees, and granted to the extent it seeks an award of taxable costs as the prevailing party. The amount of taxable costs is deferred.
Defendant served a Proposal for Settlement on February 14, 2014 (Dkt. 151, p. 11) which was not accepted by Plaintiff.
Plaintiff opposes the motion as to attorneys' fees, arguing ( 1) the proposal was ambiguous because it required execution of a "Settlement Agreement with appropriate releases and indemnity language, as agreed to by the parties," which were not attached to or summarized in the proposal; (2) the proposal was not served in compliance with Rule 1.442 (2014); (3) the proposal was defective for failing to strictly comply with Rule 1.442; and (4) the proposal failed to include language required to be included by Rule 1.442.
Because the proposal was not sufficiently clear and definite to enable Plaintiff to make an informed decision to accept or reject it without clarification of the require Settlement Agreement and releases and indemnity language, the proposal was invalid under applicable Florida law. See State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Nichols, 932 So.2d 1067, 1079 (Fla. 2006)(where execution of release is a relevant condition of settlement proposal, failure to attach release or summarize it fails to satisfy the particularity requirement of Rule 1.442).
Rule 1.442 requires that settlement proposals "state with particularity any relevant conditions" and also "state with particularity all nonmonetary terms." Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.442(c)(2)(C)-(D). A general release qualifies as one of the "relevant conditions" or "nonmonetary terms" of a settlement proposal and therefore must be "described with particularity." Nichols, 932 So. 2d at 1078-79. "A proposal does not satisfy the `particularity' requirement if an ambiguity within the proposal could reasonably affect the offeree's decision." Mix v. Adventist Health System/Sunbelt, Inc., 67 So.3d 289, 292 (Fla. 5th DCA 2011). "For the purpose of construing the particularity requirement of rule 1.442, an ambiguity is defined as `the condition of admitting more than one meaning.'" Id. at 2921 (quoting Saenz v. Campos, 967 So.2d 1114, 1117 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007)).
As noted, neither the proposed Settlement Agreement, releases, or indemnity language were attached to Defendant's proposal or summarized. It is therefore impossible to eliminate any ambiguity in the terms of the proposed Settlement Agreement, or to determine the scope of the releases and indemnification language. See Papouras v. BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc., 940 So.2d 479, 480-481 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006) (where proposal simply provided for plaintiff to execute full release without further detail, and copy of release was not attached or the terms summarized, proposed release lacked sufficient detail to eliminate any reasonable ambiguity about its scope). Nor did the proposal explain why more than one release was required and for what Plaintiff was expected to indemnify Defendant. In sum, the terms of the proposed Settlement Agreement and scope of the proposed releases and indemnity language cannot be determined "without resort to clarification or judicial interpretation," and therefore Defendant's proposal "was too ambiguous to satisfy Rule 1.442." Nichols, 932 So. 2d at 1072. Accordingly, the proposal was invalid and cannot support an award of attorneys' fees.
As the prevailing party, Defendant is entitled to recover taxable costs.
Defendant seeks to tax costs related to depositions of four witnesses who testified at trial, as well as costs related to deposition transcripts of four witness, three of which testified at trial.
Second, Defendant seeks to tax costs for photocopies, including copies made for production of documents to opposing counsel in discovery, reproduction of third-party records received in discovery, preparation of trial and exhibit binders, and copies of Plaintiffs medical records and trial exhibits. Costs for copies are taxable when necessarily obtained for use in the case. More specifically, "[c]opies attributable to discovery, copies of pleadings, correspondence, documents tendered to the opposing party, copies of exhibits, and documents prepared for the Court's consideration are recoverable, whereas copies obtained only for the convenience of counsel, such as extra copies of filed papers, correspondence, and copies of cases are not." Tampa Bay Water v. HDR Eng'g, Inc., 8:08-CV-2446-T-27TBM, 2012 WL 5387830, *20 (M.D. Fla. Nov. 2, 2012) (quotations and citations omitted).
As to the internal copying costs, Defendant does not provide enough information as to what the internal copying costs included in order to make a determination of whether the documents were necessarily obtained for use in the case. Defendant states only that the internal copy charges "include, but are not limited to" certain categories of copies. As to the external copying costs, which include Plaintiffs medical records and trial exhibits, these are properly taxed, with the exception of fees paid to Irwin Mitchell, LLP to obtain Plaintiffs London medical records. It is not clear what these fees included.
Third, Defendant seeks to tax costs related to service of process. These costs are properly taxed under§ 1920(1). W & 0, Inc., 213 F.3d at 624. However, such costs may only be taxed to the extent they "do not exceed the statutory fees authorized in section 1921," which is $55 per hour for each item served plus travel costs and out-of-pocket expenses. Id; 28 C.F.R. § 0.114(a)(3). Defendant requests between $60.00 and $80.00 for six instances of service of process, but provides no supporting documentation or explanation. Thus, whether these requests are proper cannot be determined.
Finally, Defendant seeks costs related to attendance of witnesses at trial. Taxation of witness fees is proper pursuant to § 1920(3), and witness fees are limited by 28 U.S.C. § 1821(b) to an attendance fee of $40.00 per day for each day the witness attended. Defendant's requests for witness fees for the three witnesses who testified at trial is appropriate.
Accordingly,
1. Defendant's Motion to Tax Attorneys' Fees and Costs (Dkt. 151) is
2. Costs will be taxed in accordance with this Order pending the submission by Defendant of a Bill of Costs
3. The Clerk is directed to
(4) Fees for exemplification and the costs of making copies of any materials where the copies are necessarily obtained for use in the case;