ALFRED J. BELNIAK AND MARLENE M. BELNIAK
v.
RAYMOND C. MCWILLIAMS, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF LINDA A. MCWILLIAMS, AND DAVID A. BELNIAK
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A prevailing party may satisfy its burden to recover expert witness fees by presenting substantial competent evidence of services performed and reasonable value through either the expert whose charges are at issue or another qualified expert in the same field, but not necessarily both.
[1] A prevailing party seeking to recover expert witness fees need not present testimony from both the expert whose charges are at issue and a separate expert in the same fie…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“A prevailing party's burden at an evidentiary cost hearing to recover an expert witness fee is to present substantial competent evidence of the services performed and the reasonable value of those services.”
Statement of the legal standard for recovering expert witness fees
Alfred and Marlene Belniak were prevailing parties at trial and sought to recover expert witness fees of $3,962.50. The expert testified at trial and …
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IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA
FIFTH DISTRICT
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO
FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND
DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED
ALFRED J. BELNIAK AND MARLENE M.
BELNIAK, Appellants, v. Case No. 5D18-2171 RAYMOND C. MCWILLIAMS,
INDIVIDUALLY AND AS PERSONAL
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE
OF LINDA A. MCWILLIAMS, AND
DAVID A. BELNIAK, Appellees. ________________________________/ Opinion filed February 1, 2019 Appeal from the Circuit Court for Hernando County, Donald E. Scaglione, Judge. Debra B. Tuomey, of Debra B. Tuomey, Attorney at Law, LLC, Spring Hill, for Appellants. Maureen M. Deskins, of Knopik Deskins Law Group, Tampa, for Appellees.
EVANDER, C.J.
Appellants, Alfred Belniak and Marlene Belniak, were the prevailing parties at trial below. They appeal an order denying their motion to tax costs for an expert witness. The expert testified at trial and also testified at the costs hearing as to the reasonableness of
2 his fees. The trial court found an expert witness fee of $3962.50 to be appropriate, but denied the motion on the ground that Appellants had failed to call “another expert qualified in the same field” to testify as to the reasonableness of the requested fee. We reverse. A prevailing party’s burden at an evidentiary cost hearing to recover an expert witness fee is to present substantial competent evidence of the services performed and the reasonable value of those services. Powell v. Barnes, 629 So. 2d 185, 186 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993). That evidence can come from the individual experts whose charges are at issue or another qualified expert in the same field. Id.; see also Oak Square Joint Venture v. U.S. Bank Nat’l Ass’n, 143 So. 3d 971, 972 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014). There is no requirement that the prevailing party provide testimony from both the expert witness whose charges are at issue and a second expert. On remand, the trial court shall award costs for the expert witness fees to Appellants in the amount of $3962.50.
REVERSED and REMANDED.
BERGER and GROSSHANS, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Powell v. Barnes, 629 So. 2d 185 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993)
- OAK Square Joint Venture v. U.S. Bank Nat'l Ass'n, 143 So. 3d 971 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014)