## Facts

- A diver alleged he injured his shoulder during a December 23, 1994 scuba dive conducted from the vessel *ILLUSIONS* in the British Virgin Islands.
- The diver claimed the vessel owner, Illusions Holdings, Inc., negligently planned and conducted the dive and failed to assist him at the end of the dive.
- Illusions denied negligence and asserted the diver was experienced and responsible for his own injury.
- The negligence action and Illusions’ admiralty action seeking exoneration or limitation of liability were tried together.
- Illusions prevailed at trial: a jury found for Illusions on the negligence claim, and the court found for Illusions on the admiralty exoneration issues.
- After judgment, the clerk taxed costs against the diver, including travel-related expenses for Dr. Alan Shulman, a witness identified in the pretrial order who oversaw the vessel’s maintenance/operations and purchased/inspected diving equipment.
- The diver moved to modify the taxation of costs, seeking to remove or substantially reduce Shulman’s travel expenses as allegedly unnecessary.

## Issues

1. Whether Shulman’s travel-related expenses were properly taxable costs against the losing party under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920 and 1821, given the claim that his testimony was not necessary.
2. Whether any portion of the requested amounts constituted non-taxable expert fees beyond the statutory witness-fee scheme.

## Decision

- The court largely denied the motion to retax costs and upheld taxation of Shulman’s travel-related expenses.
- The court treated Shulman’s testimony as reasonably necessary and not merely cumulative, given his role regarding vessel operations, equipment, and safety.
- The court allowed recovery only to the extent permitted by the statutory framework, trimming or disallowing items not authorized by §§ 1821 and 1920.

## Legal Principles

- Taxable costs in federal court are limited to categories authorized by statute, principally 28 U.S.C. § 1920, with witness attendance and travel governed by 28 U.S.C. § 1821.
- Expert witness compensation beyond the statutory witness fees is not taxable absent specific authorization; however, statutory witness travel and attendance amounts may be taxed even when the witness has specialized knowledge.
- A prevailing party may recover witness travel expenses when the witness’s testimony is reasonably necessary to the litigation rather than cumulative or superfluous.
- A pretrial order identifying a witness supports a finding that the witness’s appearance was foreseeable and reasonably necessary, and the objecting party bears the burden to show taxed costs are improper or excessive.

## Conclusion

The court held that the prevailing vessel owner could recover statutory witness travel expenses for a key operations-and-equipment witness, rejecting the argument that the testimony was unnecessary and limiting any recovery to amounts authorized by federal cost statutes.


In re Illusions Holdings, Inc., 210 F. Supp. 2d 248 (S.D.N.Y. 2000)