Oates V. Oates

Plaintiffs-appellants, Diane W. Oates and Deborah S. Wogan, appeal the order of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Graham, J., denying their motion for attorney's fees. Defendant Beverly W. Oates made an offer of judgment pursuant to Rule 68, Fed. R. Civ. P., for $4,000 plus payment of "all court costs" in this action for damages alleging violations of the wiretapping provisions of Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2511 and 2520. Plaintiffs accepted the offer and then sought to recover attorney's fees as a part of court costs. This case turns on the narrow issue of whether the underlying statute in this action, 18 U.S.C. § 2520, defines attorney's fees as a part of "costs." In Marek v. Chesny, 473 U.S. 1, 9, 87 L. Ed. 2d 1, 105 S. Ct. 3012 (1985), the Supreme Court held that, "where the underlying statute defines 'costs' to include attorney's fees, . . . such fees are to be included as costs for purposes of Rule 68."