2017 Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 814. Court costs, fees, and surcharges.
814.01 Costs allowed to plaintiff.
814.01 Costs allowed to plaintiff.
(1) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, costs shall be allowed of course to the plaintiff upon a recovery.
(3) In an action for assault and battery, false imprisonment, libel, slander, malicious prosecution, invasion of privacy or seduction, a plaintiff who recovers less than $50 damages shall recover no more costs than damages.
This section does not provide for the awarding of costs to a party in an arbitration proceeding. This section requires a litigated court proceeding. Finkenbinder v. State Farm Mutual Insurance Co. 215 Wis. 2d 145, 572 N.W.2d 501 (Ct. App. 1997), 97-0357.
For purposes of sub. (1), a prevailing plaintiff is a plaintiff who is awarded a recovery in a judgment, not a plaintiff who obtains a recovery as a result of a recovery dispute resolved by a trial. In this case, the circuit court correctly entered a judgment incorporating the parties' stipulations. Regardless of the jury's zero dollar verdict on the question of the plaintiff's pain and suffering resulting from the defendant's negligence, the plaintiff made a “recovery" when the court entered a final judgment that included a recovery in the stipulated amount of $10,052.07. Estate of Radley v. Ives, 2011 WI App 144, 337 Wis. 2d 677, 807 N.W.2d 633, 09-0653.
