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