2009-02-02_County_of_Hawaii_v_Coupe_Family_and_Robert_Nigel_Richards_-_Memorandum_in_Opposition_to_Defendant-Appellant's_Request_for_Statutory_Damages

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i I i In Bjornen v. State Farm Fire and Cas. Co., 81 Hawaii 105, 109, 912 P.2d 602, 606 (App. 1996), the Intermediate Court of Appeals concluded that disbursements for computerized legal research such as Westlaw are a component of attorney fees and are not taxable. Such legal research costs "are properly reflected as part of the law firm's overhead and, as such, are a factor to be included in the setting of attorneys fees as opposed to ordinary costs." Id., 81 Hawaii at f 107, 912 P.2d at 604. This Court has adopted the position that "disbursements for computerized legal research . . . are a component of attorney fees and are not taxable costs." DFS Group L.P. v. Paiea j Properties, 110 Hawaii at 224, 131 P.3d at 507. Being that the costs for legal research is part of the law firm's overhead costs, the request for$2,115.61 as legal research services costs should be denied as not taxable. D. Messenger Fees, General Excise Tag and Interest Should Be Denied. Coupe further seeks to recover$60.00 for messenger fees. See page 4 of Exhibit"B.1" of Coupe's Request for Statutory Damages. Absent extraordinary circumstances, the cost of "messenger fees for the routine task of delivering a party's documents to court is categorically outside the concept of costs." Hawai`i Ventures, LLC v. Dtaka, Inc., 116 Hawaii 465, 479, 173 P.3d 1122, 1136 (2007) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). Since Coupe has failed to establish any extraordinary circumstances in using a messenger, this Court should deny Coupe's request for messenger fees. Coupe's request for the recovery of excise tax of$2,098.07 should also be denied. Coupe does not cite any statutory or case authority for an award of excise tax. Neither has Coupe cited any statutory nor case authority for an award of interest of $1,900.35.• Coupe simply stated that as a form of damage, pursuant to HRS § 101-27, 7