By Raphaël MORENON
1 April 2025
Initiating legal proceedings or organising your defence involves hiring a solicitor, which requires an investment of time, trust and, of course, money. The question of the cost of this intervention is central. Another, equally essential question arises from this: if you are successful, how much of these costs can you recover from the opposing party? The widespread idea that «the loser pays the winner's solicitor» is a simplification that ignores the subtleties governing the allocation of costs in French law. The reality, governed by the concept of liability and a wealth of case law, is much more nuanced. In truth, most of the money you pay your solicitor is not «costs», a term that refers to a very specific category of expenses that the losing party is, in principle, ordered to reimburse. Understanding this distinction, as well as the concepts of disbursements, irrecoverable costs and interest, is essential.
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