Wednesday, February 15, 2012

On not getting costs

In perhaps the last opinion from the hard-fought case of Musick v. Dorel Juvenile Group, Judge Jones denied the Defendant's request for costs, citing the plaintiff's family's inability to pay, and relying on its prior decision in Crusenberry v. Boddie-Noell Enterprises, Inc.

In a footnote, the Court considered whether it was improper for defense counsel having won the case in the trial court to propose that the defendant would not seek its costs if the plaintiff agreed not to appeal, and concluded in the circumstances that there was nothing wrong with such an offer, even though the Court declined to award costs. I was glad to read this, having done the same thing myself a time or two.

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