It is possible to change the amount of recoverable legal aid costs

On December 18, 2018, the Supreme Court of Ukraine, by its conclusion in case No. 910/4881/18, published a legal opinion on the collection and determination of the amount of legal aid costs.

So, in the course of this trial, the question arose that the amount of UAH 337,665.08 of expenses for legal assistance, spent by one of the parties and assigned to the party that lost the dispute, is disproportionate.

The defendant, who did not want to pay “the bills”, petitioned the court to reduce the amount of costs associated with the trial, specifically, the monetary costs of professional legal assistance used by the plaintiff in the process of protecting his interests.

SCU found out!

The local economic court found that the plaintiff spent UAH 337,665.08 on a lawyer and related services, this amount also includes the costs of a lawyer’s assistant. The defendant did not apply for a reduction of this amount in the local court.

Therefore, the imposition by the court of the plaintiff’s expenses on the defendant, who is the person due to whose illegal actions the dispute itself began, is a fully justified procedural action.

SCU made conclusions!

“According to the general rule established by law, the costs of legal support (assistance, consultations, participation of a human rights defender in the process, etc.) are differentiated between the parties, as well as other legal costs calculated based on the results of the consideration of the case.”

During the counting process:

1. The amount of expenses is determined for their further distribution based on a detailed description of the services performed by the specialist and his costs associated with the case.
2. The commensurability of the size is considered through the prism of criteria: the complexity of the case and the work performed, the time invested, the volume of services and work, the cost of the claim and / or the significance of the case for the party (the impact of the decision on the reputation of the party or the public interest in the proceedings).
3. The court has the right to not recover the requested costs of legal support if the interested party can argue their disproportionateness through the prism of the above criteria, but the party that considers them unfair and wishes to reduce them must prove the disproportionate costs.

In view of this!

All such economic disputes are considered taking into account the fact that the costs of legal assistance include payment for legal advice, remuneration to a human rights activist, preparation of the case itself for consideration, collection of evidence, etc., and the amount of its compensation, if necessary, is determined on the basis of the contract and evidence of costs incurred.