Opinion
No. 558827
May 30, 2003
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION
The defendant objects to the charges of the plaintiff's expert's fees for a deposition taken by the defendant.
The defendant objects to fees for travel, preparations and the amount charged per hour for the deposition itself.
The expert, Vincent Baiocchetti, is an accident reconstructionist from New Hampshire. His total bill was $1,135.00. The defendant offers to pay only $375.00 for all the expert's time and expenses.
He charged $75.00 per hour for preparation time and $150.00 per hour for actual deposition time. In addition, he charged $150.00 for three hours travel time each way for a total of six hours for a total of $300.00. He charged for three hours preparation for a total of $225.00 and three hours deposition testimony time, $450.00. In addition, he charged for mileage, 400 miles round trip at $0.40 per mile for a grand total of $1,135.00.
The defendant cites the case of DeMatteo Construction v. New London, 236 Conn. 710, 715 (1996), as supporting his position that only the cost of the deposition is covered and that neither travel time nor preparation time are compensable. He also asserts that P.B. § 13-4(3) does not "clearly" provide for preparation time.
The plaintiff cites the Superior Court case of Rolfe v. New Britain General Hospital, 47 Conn. Sup. 296 (2001), which holds that P.B. 13-4(3) requires payment of a reasonable fee for " time spent responding to recovery." (Emphasis added.) The Rolfe case also cites federal rules and cases which allow payment for preparation time. The reasoning is that without preparation, the witness would be reviewing documents and exhibits during the deposition, thereby wasting the time of the parties and the attorneys whose fees might be greater the more hours it took to depose the expert. The Rolfe case distinguishes the DeMatteo case; it does not attempt to overrule it.
The actual fees charged for the deposition itself and the preparation time are reasonable and the court will, therefore, allow them. The defendant did not object to the travel time. Accordingly, the court will allow travel time claimed.
However, the court is not aware of any justification for the mileage charges of $160.00. The court will, therefore, disallow that charge.
The court accordingly awards to the plaintiff's expert a total of $975.00 for preparation time, deposition time and reasonable travel time.
D. Michael Hurley, JTR