Litigation is the process of taking legal action against another party. However, fees for professional legal services can become costly, but with the right representation, these costs can be recovered by way of a court order made against the losing party in a legal dispute. Therefore, in order to ensure successful litigation, it is vital to use an experienced, skilled and diligent litigation lawyer.

Following the final decision by the court in a legal dispute, the successful party is usually awarded a ‘costs order’ in their favour. A costs order allows the winning party to recover the payment of the legal costs incurred for the case from their unsuccessful opponent.

There are two ways the liability of the legal costs can be determined and settled, privately or by means of a court issued costs order. In the case of the former, the legal representatives of each party can either come to an agreement between themselves as to who will be liable for the costs incurred. After which a separate process will need to be followed to determine how much will be paid by the losing party.

Alternatively, each party’s legal representatives may argue their case in court, following which the court will then make the final decision on the matter. In this instance, the court will determine whether to make a costs order against a litigant as well as how much the costs order will be.

If you are a successful litigant and a holder of a costs order issued by the court, it is important that your litigation attorney keeps a full report of the court proceedings and case details. This is to ensure that the process to collect payment from the losing party is efficient and payment can be successfully recovered.

Woodhead Bigby Attorneys are experienced in managing and taking control of the legal process from start to finish and can assist you with the collection of money if you have a court order relating to the payment of legal costs.