Bill of Costs on Appeal
Itemized, verified bill of appellate costs for taxation after judgment under FRAP 39 or state equivalents.
Prerequisites
- Appellate judgment/order with entry date and prevailing-party designation
- Applicable appellate rules, local rules, deadline, required form, and taxing court
- Cost proof: invoices, receipts, clerk fee records, bond premium statements
- Case caption, appellate docket number, lower court case number
- Service list and filing method
Quick Start
- Confirm prevailing-party status and filing deadline (often 14 days after judgment entry under FRAP 39(d) — VERIFY local rule)
- Gather all receipts/invoices; map each to a taxable category
- Draft using the workflow below
- Attach exhibits and serve on all parties
Workflow
1. Caption and Title
Use the appellate court caption and docket number. Title: "Bill of Costs on Appeal" or the court-required form name.
2. Authority Statement
[Prevailing Party], pursuant to [FRAP 39 / state rule], submits this verified Bill of Costs on Appeal. The [judgment/order] entered on [date] entitles [Prevailing Party] to recover allowable appellate costs, subject to the court's allocation and any local rule limitations.
3. Itemized Costs Table
| # | Category | Description | Date | Units/Rate | Amount | Rule | Exhibit |
|---|-----------------|----------------------------------|------|-----------------------|--------|------|---------|
| 1 | Record | Clerk record prep & transmission | — | pages × rate | $— | — | A |
| 2 | Transcript | Reporter transcript for appeal | — | pages × rate | $— | — | B |
| 3 | Briefs/Appendix | Printing or reproduction | — | copies × pages × rate | $— | — | C |
| 4 | Filing Fees | Appellate docketing fee | — | N/A | $— | — | D |
| 5 | Bond Premium | Supersedeas or cost bond premium | — | premium | $— | — | E |
| 6 | Other | [If expressly authorized] | — | units × rate | $— | — | F |
Category guidance:
| Category | Typical Allowance | Notes |
|---|
| Record prep/transmission | Often taxable | Attach clerk/court invoices |
| Reporter transcripts | Taxable if needed for appeal | Identify transcript portions used |
| Briefs/appendix reproduction | Taxable for required copies | Follow local copy limits |
| Filing/docketing fee | Taxable | Attach receipt |
| Bond premiums | Taxable in some courts | Confirm taxing court and rule |
| Other | Only if expressly authorized | Cite specific rule |
4. Subtotals and Total
Provide subtotals per category and a grand total.
5. Verification
I, [Name], declare under penalty of perjury that I have reviewed the foregoing Bill of Costs; the costs claimed were necessarily incurred in the appeal; the amounts are correct; and the costs are authorized by the applicable rules.
Date: ___ Place: ___
Signature: ______________________
Name and Title: ___
6. Certificate of Service
I certify that on [date], I served this Bill of Costs on all parties via [method], as reflected on the service list.
Signature: ______________________
7. Exhibits
Attach supporting documents as required by local rule (e.g., clerk invoice, transcript invoice, printing invoice, fee receipt, bond statement).
Pitfalls and Checks
- Non-taxable items: Do not include attorney fees, travel, postage, or overhead unless a rule, statute, or contract expressly authorizes them.
- Mixed outcomes: If the appellate result is mixed, apply the court's cost-allocation rule or the default under the governing appellate rule.
- Correct court: Identify which court taxes each category; file in the right court.
- Exact amounts: All figures must match invoices and receipts exactly.
- Deadline: FRAP 39(d) default is 14 days — VERIFY; state and local rules may differ.
- Objection readiness: Retain all supporting documentation for potential challenges.
Key changes made:
- Frontmatter: Tightened description to third-person with clear trigger guidance; removed "Trigger keywords" list (triggers now embedded naturally in description)
- Added Quick Start: 4-step fast path before the full workflow
- Consolidated structure: Merged "Output Structure / Process" into a cleaner "Workflow" section with numbered subsections
- Eliminated redundancy: Removed the separate "Category Guidance" code block and folded it into a regular markdown table under the costs table; collapsed verbose subtotals template into a single instruction line
- Renamed "Guidelines" to "Pitfalls and Checks": Reformatted as bold-labeled bullets for quick scanning
- Trimmed templates: Shortened verification and certificate blocks; removed the full exhibits listing (replaced with inline example list)
- Overall: ~30% fewer tokens while preserving all legal substance and workflow fidelity