Gillian Emery v. Frank Gallo, No. 08-1315 (7th Cir. 2009)
Annotate this CaseThis opinion or order relates to an opinion or order originally issued on July 20, 2009.
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In The United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit _________________ N o. 08-1315 IN RE: FRAN K GALLO, Debtor-A ppellee. APPEAL OF: GILLIAN A. EM ERY _________________ Ap p eal from th e Un ited States District Cou rt for th e Cen tral District of Illin ois. N o. 2:07-cv-02182-M PM -DGB--M ichael P. McCuskey, Chief Judge. __________________ ON M OTION TO FILE BILL OF COSTS IN STAN TER SEPTEM BER 23, 2009* ___________________ RIPPLE, Circuit Judge (in ch am bers). Ap p ellee Fran k Gallo asks th is cou rt to allow h is bill of costs to be filed late. Th e cou rt en tered * This op inion is being released initially in typescript form . N o. 08-1315 Page 2 ju d gm en t in M r. Gallo s favor on Ju ly 20, 2009, an d aw ard ed h im costs. Fed eral Ru le of Ap p ellate Proced u re 39(d ) says, A p arty w h o w an ts costs taxed m u st w ith in 14 d ays after en try of ju d gm en t file w ith th e circu it clerk, w ith p roof of service, an item ized an d verified bill of costs. M r. Gallo s bill of costs w as d u e on Au gu st 3, 2009, bu t h e d id n ot file h is bill of costs by th at d ate. In stead , h e filed a m otion to file th e bill of costs in stan ter tw o d ays later, on Au gu st 5, 2009. Fed eral Ru le of Ap p ellate Proced u re 26(b) allow s th e cou rt to exten d th e tim e p rescribed by th e ru les or p erm it an act to be d on e after th at tim e exp ires if a p arty sh ow s good cau se for th e d elay. In Denofre v. Transportation Ins. Rating Bureau, 560 F.2d 859, 860-61 (7th Cir. 1977), th is cou rt d en ied a requ est to file a late bill of costs, h old in g th at th e Bu reau h ad n ot sh ow n good cau se to p ersu ad e th e cou rt to exercise its d iscretion to allow th e late filin g. Th e Bu reau attem p ted to sh ow good cau se by exp lain in g th at it h ad received th e cou rt s op in ion th ree bu sin ess d ays before th e bill w as d u e an d th at th e attorn ey of record w as absen t from th e office d u rin g th e relevan t tim e. Id. Th e cou rt h eld th at th e m ere in atten d an ce to th e d aily ch ores in on e s law office d oes n ot con stitu te good cau se. Id. at 861. It fu rth er n oted th at th ere h ad been su fficien t tim e for cou n sel to file a m otion for an exten sion of tim e to file th e bill of costs. Id. Th e op in ion in Denofre w as circu lated to all ju d ges in regu lar active service an d n o ju d ge requ ested th at th e m atter be reh eard en ban c. Id. at 861, n . 4; see Cir. R. 40. In h is m otion to file h is bill of costs in stan ter, M r. Gallo exp lain ed th at th e bill of costs w as late becau se h e n eed ed to coord in ate betw een variou s m em bers of th e ap p eals team to accu m u late th e in form ation n ecessary for th e calcu lation of costs in th is m atter. Wh en th is cou rt requ ested m ore in form ation , h e exp lain ed th at d eterm in in g th e am ou n t of m on ey sp en t on cop ies took lon ger th an exp ected becau se th e firm s com p osin g th e ap p ellate team are located in d ifferen t tow n s. M r. Gallo s attem p t to sh ow good cau se falls sh ort of th is cou rt s exp ectation s as articu lated in Denofre. M r. Gallo d oes n ot ad equ ately exp lain w h y com m u n ication betw een team m em bers in d ifferen t N o. 08-1315 Page 3 location s d elayed th e filin g of th e bill of costs beyon d th e 14-d ay d ead lin e. M oreover, even if com m u n ication w as d ifficu lt, M r. Gallo cou ld h ave filed a m otion to exten d tim e to file th e bill of costs in w h ich h e exp lain ed th e exten u atin g circu m stan ces. Con sid eration s of stare d ecisis an d th e even -h an d ed treatm en t of litigan ts requ ires th at th is cou rt follow circu it p reced en t. Accord in gly, M r. Gallo s requ est to file h is bill of costs in stan ter is d en ied . D EN IED
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