Costs: $9,816.78 In Costs For 22 Medical Subpoenas Was Reasonably Granted To The Defendant, Given The Position It Took Through Affirmative Defenses.

Premature Filing Of Costs Memorandum Was No Problem Given A Lack Of Prejudice.

            In Lowry v. Port San Luis Harbor Dist., Case Nos. B300072/B302209 (2d Dist., Div. 6 Oct. 22, 2020) (published), defendant was allowed a routine costs award of $9,816.78 for service of 22 medical subpoenas in a case where the defendant alleged various affirmative defenses such as preexisting conditions, superseding/intervening causes, and unfitness for misrepresenting pre-hiring medical facts.  The trial court allowed the requested costs, a determination affirmed on appeal.  Unfortunately for plaintiff, this was an abuse of discretion standard, with nothing showing they were not necessary or unreasonable given the affirmative defenses staked by the defense.  Plaintiff argued that a prematurely filed costs memorandum, before judgment was entered, was erroneous, but the law in this area is that such a premature filing is only so if  prejudice resulted—a result rarely shown, and not in this particular case.  (Haley v. Casa Del Rey Homeowners Assn., 153 Cal.App.4^th 863, 880 (2007).)