How the legal system works

[andrewducker]

Comments

[major-clanger.livejournal.com]

Not quite. Usually, if you win a case, you will get about 75-80% of your costs back from the other side. So yes, to answer andrewducker's point, you probably won't get all your costs back, but hopefully your damages will exceed the shortfall. A lawyer ought to make it clear if a prospective lawsuit is likely to end up costing more than it brings in.

What, to be more specific, we don't have is a system where your lawyer gets a percentage of the damages if you win. There are such things as conditional fee agreements, but those involve an uplift (say 50%) above normal-rate fees if you win, and no fee if you lose. (As ever, it's never as simple as that; a so-called 'no-win, no-fee' agreement still involves lots of other expenses you pay along the way.)