The Oregon Court of Appeals has once again confirmed that computerized legal research costs (Westlaw, Lexis, etc.) are not recoverable as costs under state law (in this case, the state law permitting recovery of costs on appeal), in a case arising out of a dispute over a homeowner’s insurance policy. The policyholder apparently argued that under the court’s prior holdings awarding such research costs where a statute permits recovery of attorney fees. Not so fast, noted the court: the policyholder didn’t ask for research costs as fees, she asked for them as costs. The court therefore declined to decide whether computerized legal research costs are recoverable as fees under ORS 742.061. Although a small issue in the scheme of things, recovery of research costs in coverage cases is important because relatively few coverage issues have been addressed by the Oregon courts, requiring counsel to research out-of-state legal developments in order to render effective representation to policyholder clients.
