Index: When the successful party still has to absorb losses of millions
The analysis examines how the courts’ practice of reducing lawyers’ fees obstructs the actual recovery of costs by successful parties, and why a costs award aligned with market realities is essential.
The publication draws attention to a recurring problem in Hungarian justice: the courts’ subjective practice of reducing lawyers’ fees, which often leaves even successful parties with an unfair financial loss. Dr. Zoltán Dobos points out that courts frequently set the recoverable legal costs far from market rates, which fundamentally calls into question the “loser pays” principle and effective enforcement. The piece emphasises that, for those seeking justice, predictability and full cost recovery are not merely economic interests, but also basic conditions of legal certainty and the right to a fair trial.
