Gaddis v. United States

DeMOSS, Circuit Judge:

We took this case en banc to consider whether guardian ad litem fees could be taxed against the government in a Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”) case, in light of Crawford Fitting Co. v. J.T. Gibbons, Inc., 482 U.S. 437, 107 S.Ct. 2494, 96 L.Ed.2d 385 (1987). For the reasons that follow, we conclude that federal district courts may continue to choose to tax guardian ad litem fees as court costs against nonpre-vailing parties, including against the government in an FTCA case. We thus AFFIRM the decision of the district court to tax guardian ad litem fees against the…