Legal Costs

Abstract

Abstract The basic rule prevailing in most countries outside the United States is that the losing litigant must pay not only his own legal costs but also those of the winner, and that such costs include the winner’s attorney’s fee as well as court fees. In Europe this rule can be traced back to Roman origins in the later Empire, but is shared also by English law, where its origins are more obscure. In detail the rules vary considerably from one country to another, on such aspects as grants of discretion, exceptions on grounds of fraud, vexation, delay, or other misconduct, or on grounds of poverty. In some countries fees are officially regulated, in others like England they are freely negotiated between lawyer and client, subject however to taxation by a court official in claims for reimbursement from the losing party.