Zurich American Insurance Company of Illinois v. Accuire, LLC ( 2019 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 ZURICH AMERICAN INSURANCE No. 2:18-cv-02065-JAM-AC COMPANY OF ILLINOIS, 11 Plaintiff, 12 ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S v. MOTION TO AMEND THE JUDGMENT TO 13 AWARD PREJUDGMENT INTEREST AND ACCUIRE, LLC, and DOES 1 COSTS 14 through 100, inclusive, 15 Defendants. 16 17 On October 21, 2019, the Court granted Zurich American 18 Insurance Company of Illinois’s (“Plaintiff”) Motion for Summary 19 Judgment in its breach of contract claim against Accuire, LLC. 20 (“Defendant”). Order, ECF No. 20. Less than a month after 21 judgment was entered (Judgment, ECF No. 21), Plaintiff filed a 22 Motion to Amend the Judgment to award prejudgment interest and 23 costs. Mot. to Am. J. (“Mot.”), ECF No. 25. Defendant did not 24 file an opposition to this motion. The Court GRANTS Plaintiff’s 25 Motion to Amend the Judgment.1 26 27 1 This motion was determined to be suitable for decision without oral argument. E.D. Cal. L.R. 230(g). The hearing was 28 scheduled for December 10, 2019. 1 I. FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 2 The parties are familiar with the events leading up to this 3 motion, as they were described in depth in the Court’s previously 4 issued Order. See Order, ECF No. 20. They will not be repeated 5 here. 6 7 II. OPINION 8 A. Prejudgment Interest 9 1. Legal Standard 10 Awards of prejudgment interest are governed by 11 considerations of fairness and are awarded when it is necessary 12 to make the wronged party whole. U.S. v. Cal. State Bd. of 13 Equalization, 650 F.2d 1127, 1132 (9th Cir. 1981) (internal 14 citations omitted). They are “intended to compensate for the 15 loss of use of money due as damages from the time the claim 16 accrues until judgment is entered.” Barnard v. Theobald, 721 17 F.3d 1069, 1078 (9th Cir. 2013). In a case arising under 18 federal law, they are left to the discretion of the trial court. 19 Bd. of Equalization, 650 F.2d at 1132. But state law generally 20 governs awards of prejudgment interest in diversity actions as 21 “prejudgment interest is a substantive aspect of a plaintiff’s 22 claim, rather than a merely procedural mechanism.” Oak Harbor 23 Freight Lines, Inc. v. Sears Roebuck, & Co., 513 F.3d 949, 961 24 (9th Cir. 2008) (internal quotations and citation omitted). 25 2. Analysis 26 In a breach of contract matter where the contract does not 27 specify the legal rate of interest, California law applies a ten 28 percent interest rate per year from the date of the breach. 1 Cal. Civ. Code § 3289(b). The agreement in this matter does not 2 specify the legal rate of interest (Totzke Decl., ECF No. 25-2, 3 ¶ 9), so the ten percent interest rate should be applied. 4 The breach occurred on May 12, 2016, the day Defendant owed 5 the additional premium to Plaintiff. Totzke Decl. ¶ 6, Ex. A, 6 p. 5. The daily interest rate on the principal amount of 7 $491,614.00 at ten percent per year is $134.69 per day. And 8 1,257 days passed between the breach and the entry of judgment. 9 See Judgment, ECF No. 21. The daily interest rate of $134.69 10 multiplied by 1,257 days is $169,305.33. 11 Thus, the Court finds that Defendant owes Plaintiff 12 $169,305.33 in prejudgment interest. 13 B. Costs 14 1. Legal Standard 15 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(d)(1) provides, in 16 pertinent part: “Unless a federal statute, these rules, or a 17 court order provides otherwise, costs—other than attorney’s fees— 18 should be allowed to the prevailing party.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 19 54(d)(1). This rule creates a presumption that costs will be 20 taxed against the losing party, but “vests in the district court 21 discretion to refuse to award costs” if the losing party shows 22 why costs should not be awarded. Ass’n of Mexican–Am. Educators 23 v. State of California, 231 F.3d 572, 591–92 (9th Cir. 2000) 24 (en banc). 25 28 U.S.C. § 1920 generally defines the expenses that may be 26 taxed as costs under Rule 54(d). See Crawford Fitting Co. v. J. 27 T. Gibbons, Inc., 482 U.S. 437, 441–42 (1987). Pursuant to 28 28 U.S.C. § 1920, a judge or court clerk may tax as costs: fees 1 of the clerk and marshal; fees for printed or electronically 2 recorded transcripts necessarily obtained for use in the case; 3 fees and disbursements for printing and witnesses; fees for 4 copies of necessary papers; docket fees, and compensation of 5 court appointed experts. 28 U.S.C. § 1920; see also E.D. Cal. 6 L.R. 292(f). 7 2. Timeliness 8 Under Local Rule 292, the Bill of Costs must be filed within 9 fourteen (14) days of entry of judgment. E.D. Cal. L.R. 292(b). 10 Judgement was entered on October 21, 2019 (Judgment, ECF No. 21) 11 and Plaintiff filed its Bill of Costs nine days later (Bill of 12 Costs, ECF No. 22). Thus, Plaintiff timely filed the Bill of 13 Costs. Defendant did not object to Plaintiff’s Bill of Costs. 14 3. Analysis 15 Plaintiff seeks taxable costs incurred for: (1) clerk’s 16 fees; (2) subpoena fees; (3) deposition transcripts; and 17 (4) making copies of discovery records, deposition exhibits, and 18 pleadings. See ECF No. 22. The clerk’s fee is recoverable 19 under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914, 1920(1). As are subpoena fees. Alflex 20 Corp. v. Underwriters Labs., Inc., 914 F.2d 175, 178 (9th Cir. 21 1990). Court reporter’s fees and costs related to depositions 22 necessarily obtained for use in the case are also recoverable. 23 E.D. Cal. L.R. 292(f)(3); 28 U.S.C. § 1920(2). And finally, 28 24 U.S.C. § 1920(4) allows the recovery of “[f]ees for 25 exemplification and the costs of making copies of any materials 26 where the copies are necessarily obtained for use in the case.” 27 /// 28 /// 1 Because all of Plaintiff’s costs are recoverable and 2 adequately supported with documentation, the Court awards costs 3 to Plaintiff in the total amount requested. 4 5 TILT. ORDER 6 For the reasons set forth above, the Court GRANTS 7 Plaintiff’s Motion to Amend the Judgment and awards $169,305.33 8 in prejudgment interest and $6,508.70 in costs. 9 IT IS SO ORDERED. 10 Dated: December 13, 2019 11 kA 12 teiren staves odermacr 7008 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28