Fees and costs

When deciding to take a case to court it is important that you are aware of the potential costs and financial risks.

There are several different types of costs in running a legal case:

Court fees: administration fees charged by the court

Lawyer’s fees: fees charged by lawyers for working on your case (like their hourly rate and printing costs)

Disbursements: the costs of getting things like medical reports, expert evidence, interpreters and translations, or the costs of transporting witnesses to court.

Adverse costs: The other side’s legal costs. If you decide to take a case to court you risk losing the case and being ordered to pay the legal costs of the winning side, as well as your own costs.

• If you are ordered to pay costs to the winning side you must do so. If you don’t, you risk having your property and/or assets sold to cover the debt, going into bankruptcy or having your business wound up (if you own one).  

Payment plans

If you cannot afford the costs up front you can contact the other party to organise a payment plan or you can apply for an instalment order through the court that made the judgement.