FAQs

Party and party – this means that the legal costs to be paid by the unsuccessful party will be calculated according to the rates in the rules of that court – but limited to only the necessary steps taken to move the matter forward. This is the lowest cost scale and, in practice, means that you can only recover a small part of the legal cost you have paid your lawyer.

Attorney and client – this means that the legal costs to be paid by the unsuccessful party will be calculated according to the rates in the rules of that court – but is not limited to the necessary steps taken to move the matter forward and includes all attendances by the lawyer. In practice, this means that you can only recover a greater part of the legal cost you have paid your lawyer but not all.

Attorney and own client – this means that the legal costs to be paid by the unsuccessful party will be calculated according to the rates of your lawyer – this would include all attendances by your lawyer at their rates. This is the highest cost scale and enables you to recover all costs paid to your lawyer (unless the steps taken by your lawyer were not needed at all).

A fee is something an attorney charges for professional services rendered or time spent. These are within the control of the attorney and hence the attorney can charge a fixed fee (being a fee that is ‘capped’).

A disbursement is an expense that an attorney incurs on your behalf. These are usually not within the control of the attorney and hence the attorney cannot fix the disbursement (the attorney cannot limit disbursements).