Claiming costs after sentencing in California is the topic of this article. Claiming pre-trial costs after the rendering of a judgment in California requires the filing and notification of a cost memorandum verified by the prevailing party entitled to the costs.
California law states that a cost memorandum must be verified by the party or their attorney and must be notified and filed within a specified time. However, I want to emphasize that because each case is unique due to different circumstances, the actual deadline for any particular case depends on a variety of factors that will be discussed below.
The California deadline for filing and serving a cost memorandum is set forth in California Court Rule 3.1700 (a) (1), which states in the relevant part that “a prevailing party claiming the costs must notify and file a memorandum of costs within 15 days after the date of mailing of the notice of sentencing or removal by the clerk pursuant to section 664.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure or the date of delivery of the written notice of the issuance of judgment or dismissal, or within 180 days after the publication of the judgment, whichever occurs first. “
The Code of Civil Procedure § 664.5 establishes the specific requirements for the notification of the issuance of the judgment and must be carefully reviewed.
However, I cannot emphasize enough that in order for the clerk’s notice of sentencing to activate the 15-day deadline, it must comply with Code of Civil Procedure § 664.5. In some cases, a clerk will simply mail a stamped copy on file of the judgment with something attached known as a Certificate of Mailing that does not satisfy the “service pursuant to court order” requirement of the subdivision of the Code of Civil Procedure § 664.5 and as the result does not start the 15-day clock as stated by the California Supreme Court in at least two published cases.
Attorneys or parties in California should carefully review any notice of sentencing provided by the clerk to determine whether or not the clerk has served a notice of sentencing that fully complies with the provisions of Code of Civil Procedure § 664.5, including a statement that the document mailed by the clerk is served by “court order” or “under section 664.5”. If the clerk fails to do so and no other party notifies and files a judgment issuance notice, the deadline for filing and serving a cost memorandum is 180 days after judgment is issued.
To view the text of the sections of the Code of Civil Procedure cited in this article, visit http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes.xhtml
To view the text of any California Court Rule cited in this article, visit http://www.courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index.cfm?title=three