Judge tentatively sets Ellen Pao's court costs at $275,000 - less than one-third what Kleiner Perkins wanted

A San Francisco court judge tentatively ordered Ellen Pao to pay more than $275,000 in court costs to her former employer Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

That's a number greatly reduced from the initial $973,000 in court fees the venture capital was seeking to recover from Pao, of which $865,000 was attributed to expert fees.

In a tentative ruling before tomorrow's case, the judge scaled down the expert testimony costs to $228,646.28.

Pao lost all counts of her case against the venture capital firm on March 27, 2015, when a jury found that her gender was not the motivating reason for her not being promoted to a general or senior partner, or for her termination at the firm.

Since the court's decision, Pao and her former employer have been negotiating the legal costs that were incurred in the high-profile case.

In a move typical for defendants who prevail in employment lawsuits, KPCB filed in April to recover $973,000 in court fees, but said it would waive its legal costs if Pao gave up her right to appeal.

In May, Pao filed a motion to strike KPCB's costs because she found them "grossly excessive and unreasonable." The nearly $973,000 in court costs includes nearly $865,000 in expert witness fees. She also considered the firm's settlement offer for $964,000 in November 2014 a "bad faith offer". But Pao also offered, according to KPCB, to waive her rights to appeal in exchange for $2.7 million to cover her own costs.

Pao filed a notice to appeal the case on June 1.

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