Recovery of Attorney’s Fees

Seeking the Just Recovery of Attorney’s Fees

In the state of Georgia, the fees and expenses associated with an attorney are the direct responsibility of the party with whom the attorney-client relationship exists. This means that if you hire us to represent you in court, you will be responsible for paying all fees. The courts recognize, however, that there are times when it may be appropriate for the opposing party to have to pay some, or even all, of the attorney’s fees involved.

The courts use this process (often called ‘fee shifting’) to help level the playing field in terms of legal representation. For example, if a stay at home mom is going through a divorce, she may not have immediate access to the finances needed to hire a good attorney. In order to ensure both parties are properly represented, the courts may require that the husband pay some, or even all, of the court costs.

In addition, if a judge feels that one party is intentionally causing delays to add expenses to the other, they may require that they pay all the attorney’s fees that they caused. This is fairly uncommon, but is an option to be aware of in particularly contentious divorce situations.