If I win a case, am I entitled to attorney’s fees?
Get Legal Help Today
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
UPDATED: Aug 8, 2012
It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right legal decisions.
We strive to help you make confident insurance and legal decisions. Finding trusted and reliable insurance quotes and legal advice should be easy. This doesn’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own.
Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about legal topics and insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything legal and insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by experts.
The general rule in American courts is that each side bears its own attorney’s fees and expenses, unless attorney’s fees are provided for in a contract you have signed or in a special statute providing for attorney’s fees. In contrast, in England the victorious party typically recovers its attorney’s fees from the loser, who thus must bear the other side’s fees and its own. A major drawback to English approach is that people of average means cannot afford the risk of initiating litigation, even though they have a very strong claim, because of the possibility that they would be wiped out if for any reason they were not victorious.
Attorney’s fees are provided by statute, in some circumstances. For example, in cases involving copyright violations, discrimination matters, and environmental matters, there are special statutes providing for attorney’s fees.