Under California Code of Civil Procedure section 1032, prevailing party cost recovery is automatic: the winning side in a civil lawsuit is entitled to recover its litigation costs from the loser unless another statute says otherwise. What matters is knowing who counts as the “prevailing party” and which expenses actually qualify, because both are narrower than most people assume. CCP 1032 defines the party; CCP 1033.5 defines the costs.
Who Counts as the Prevailing Party
CCP 1032 does not simply hand costs to whoever “won.” It lists four specific categories of prevailing party: the party with a net monetary recovery, a defendant who obtains a dismissal in their favor, a defendant when neither side gets any relief, and a defendant as against any plaintiff who recovers nothing against that particular defendant.1California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 1032 – Of Costs The last category is what matters in multi-defendant cases: if you sue five defendants and only recover against two, the other three are each a prevailing party against you.
Defendants come out structurally ahead here. If the case ends with no relief for anyone, the defendant prevails by default. If the plaintiff voluntarily dismisses, the defendant still prevails. Filing a lawsuit and then walking away from it is a financially risky decision, not a clean exit.
When a party recovers something other than money, or the situation does not fit those four categories, the court decides who prevailed. In that scenario the judge can award costs, deny them entirely, or split them between parties on the same or opposing sides.1California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 1032 – Of Costs A plaintiff who wins a modest dollar amount but loses on the injunction they actually wanted may not be treated as the prevailing party at all.
What Costs the Prevailing Party Can Recover
CCP 1033.5 is the statute that lists what actually qualifies. These items are recoverable as of right, though each still has to be reasonably necessary to the litigation rather than merely convenient.
- Filing, motion, and jury fees.
- Service of process, including a registered process server’s actual charges and stakeout fees unless successfully challenged.
- Deposition costs: taking, video recording, and transcribing depositions; interpreter fees for witnesses not proficient in English; travel to attend.
- Ordinary witness fees under Government Code section 68093, and fees for court-ordered expert witnesses.
- Court reporter fees as set by statute.
- Transcripts of proceedings ordered by the court.
- Premiums on surety bonds required during the litigation.
- Attachment expenses, including keeper’s fees.
- Electronic filing and service fees when required or ordered by the court.
- Models, enlarged exhibits, photocopies of exhibits, and electronic presentation of exhibits (including rental equipment) when reasonably helpful to the judge or jury.
- Court interpreter fees for an indigent person represented by a legal services project or pro bono attorney.
Every item must clear the “reasonably necessary” bar. Anything that helped your preparation but was not truly necessary to conduct the litigation can be struck.2California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 1033.5 – Items Allowable as Costs Anything not listed as allowable and not listed as prohibited falls into discretionary territory under CCP 1033.5(c)(4), where the court weighs whether the expense was reasonable and genuinely contributed to the outcome. Document unusual expenses carefully; vague entries in the cost memorandum invite a motion to strike.
Costs You Cannot Recover
CCP 1033.5(b) blocks certain categories unless a separate statute authorizes them:
- Fees for expert witnesses you retained yourself (as opposed to experts ordered by the court).
- Investigation expenses incurred preparing the case for trial.
- Postage, telephone, and photocopying charges, except photocopies used as exhibits.
- Jury investigation or jury-selection research costs.
- Transcripts of court proceedings that you ordered without a court order.
The party-retained expert rule catches litigants off guard constantly. If your case turned on an expensive biomechanical engineer or medical expert, the losing side does not have to reimburse those fees through ordinary cost recovery, no matter how central the testimony was.2California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 1033.5 – Items Allowable as Costs The one meaningful exception is CCP 998, discussed below.
Attorney Fees Are Not Costs
This is the biggest misconception about winning a California lawsuit. Under CCP 1021, each side pays its own attorney unless a contract or statute says otherwise. CCP 1032 covers litigation costs; it does not cover legal fees on its own.
CCP 1033.5(a)(10) does list attorney fees as an allowable cost when they are authorized by contract, statute, or law.2California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 1033.5 – Items Allowable as Costs So if your lease, business contract, or governing statute contains a fee-shifting provision, attorney fees ride along with the rest of your costs. Common hooks include the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, various employment discrimination statutes, and Civil Code section 1717, which makes contractual attorney fee clauses reciprocal even if the contract only names one party. Without a hook, you absorb your own legal fees no matter how decisive the win.
How a CCP 998 Offer Changes the Math
CCP 998 is the statute that turns routine cost recovery into a serious risk for whichever side misjudges the case. Either party can make a formal pretrial settlement offer, and if the other side rejects it and then fails to do better at trial, the cost consequences shift dramatically.
When a defendant’s 998 offer is rejected and the plaintiff fails to obtain a more favorable judgment, the plaintiff loses the right to recover any post-offer costs and must pay the defendant’s post-offer costs. The court also has discretion to order the plaintiff to pay the defendant’s post-offer expert witness fees, which are normally not recoverable at all. Those costs get deducted directly from the plaintiff’s damages award; if they exceed the award, the net difference goes to the defendant and judgment is entered in the defendant’s favor.3California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 998 – Offer to Compromise A plaintiff can win at trial and still owe money.
The reverse also works. If a plaintiff makes a 998 offer, the defendant rejects it, and the plaintiff then beats the offer at trial, the court can order the defendant to pay the plaintiff’s post-offer expert witness fees on top of ordinary costs.3California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 998 – Offer to Compromise In personal injury cases, the plaintiff can also collect prejudgment interest at 10 percent per year from the date of the offer under Civil Code section 3291. A 998 offer must be made in good faith and be reasonable; a token amount designed only to trigger the penalty may not be enforced.
Claiming Costs: The Memorandum of Costs
You claim costs by filing an itemized memorandum of costs. California Rule of Court 3.1700 sets the deadline at whichever comes first: 15 days after service of notice of entry of judgment or dismissal, or 180 days after entry of judgment.4Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court Rule 3.1700 – Prejudgment Costs
Missing the 15-day window is one of the most preventable mistakes in California civil practice. If no one serves notice of entry, the 180-day backstop applies, but relying on it is risky. Itemize every expense, attach invoices, receipts, or supporting declarations, and serve the memorandum on the opposing party.
Challenging Costs: The Motion to Tax
The opposing party can fight the claimed costs by filing a motion to strike or tax the memorandum within 15 days after it is served. If the memorandum was served by mail, the deadline extends under CCP 1013; if served electronically, under CCP 1010.6(a)(4).4Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court Rule 3.1700 – Prejudgment Costs
The motion has to identify each challenged item by its number on the memorandum and explain why it should be struck or reduced. Common grounds: the expense was not reasonably necessary, the item falls on the CCP 1033.5(b) prohibited list, or the amount is inflated. If no motion to tax is filed within the deadline, the costs are effectively accepted. The court will not review them on its own.
When the Court Has Discretion
CCP 1032(b) starts with an important qualifier: the prevailing party recovers costs “except as otherwise expressly provided by statute.”1California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 1032 – Of Costs Some California statutes cut off or limit cost recovery in particular case types, especially where the litigation involves a public-interest dimension.
Courts also retain discretion in the mixed-outcome scenarios where no side fits neatly into the four defined categories. Judges consider the significance of each claim won or lost, whether the monetary recovery was meaningful relative to what was sought, and the overall posture of both sides. A plaintiff who asks for $5 million and recovers $8,000 technically has a net monetary recovery, but a court can reasonably question whether that counts as prevailing in any real sense.