Georgia Home Law

I apologize if the title of this post is misleading.  Today's topic is about recovering your attorneys' fees in court, not about unleashing some top-secret information on how attorneys calculate or justify their fees.  But it's a catchy title, don't you think?

All kidding aside, you will probably be shocked to hear this:  it is very difficult to get someone else (i.e., the wrongdoer, also known as your arch enemy) to pay your attorneys' fees for you if you end up in court. 

First, a little background.  Nine times out of ten - and assuming you don't have a rich uncle to help you out - you will have to pay your own attorneys' fees along the way.  This usually occurs on a monthly basis when you get a bill from your law firm detailing all the work your attorneys did on your case for the month.  You will be expected to pay your attorneys every month or your attorney will most likely resign from the case. 

So, knowing that you will have to pay your attorneys regardless, the real question is about reimbursement.  Will you get reimbursed from your enemy for those thousands that you paid to your law firm?   Or will you have to chalk it up to the value of having your "day in court?"  In the American legal system we have a long-standing belief that parties to a lawsuit should shell out their own money for justice.  This is opposed to other legal systems in the world where the loser pays all the legal fees for the winning party.  

So if the underlying policy in this country is "pay your own way," then how do you get around that?  The truth is there are limited options.  In Georgia, there are only a handful of claims you can make that will entitle you to ask for compensation for your fees.  They are centered around the "bad" and intentional behavior of the opposite party.  In other words, you have to prove that the other guy acted with bad faith or the intent to cause you harm.  Note the way that I phrased this: I used the word "prove."  It is simply not enough to say that someone acted in bad faith or with the intent to harm you.  You have to show evidence of it, either through documents or witnesses who can testify.

There's still another hurdle in your quest to get your money back.  Not only do you have to show evidence of wrongdoing, but a jury has to believe you and calculate the exact amount to which you are entitled.  And the jury can pick any amount they want.  For instance, early in my career, I had a case wherein we alleged that the other side sold my client's house out from under her without her permission.  We presented evidence of this in trial.  The jury ultimately decided that the other guys did not have the intent early on in their relationship with my client, but developed it later.  They awarded my client 80% of the amount she paid to the law firm.  So she was not made whole.  Folks - this happens a lot.

In summary, I've attempted to take a very broad topic and discuss only a small fraction of it.  As with almost everything in the law, there are many more rules and exceptions to these rules that cannot possibly be addressed in full via a blog post.  But hopefully you've gotten the gist:.  You should know that it is very, very difficult and rare to have your attorneys' fees paid by someone else.  Period.  So if you are about to go down that road, set your expectations low and you may end up better off for it.