What happens when you win a court case in South Africa? In most cases, the court will order the other party to pay your legal costs. This can be a hefty amount, depending on how long the case took and what type of lawyer you used. However, don’t despair if your opponent is refusing to pay!
There are ways to get your money back — all you need is some patience and creativity.
What is a court order in South Africa?
A court order is an official request from a judge to someone or some organization. If the person who receives a court order refuses to follow it, law could punish them.
A court order can relate to any type of legal matter, from divorce proceedings to traffic violations. A judge will issue a court order if he or she believes that there is enough evidence for them to make their decision based on what happened during their trial.
When someone receives a court order, they must obey it as soon as possible because breaking this rule can lead them into serious trouble with the law if caught doing so
Why would I have to pay legal costs after a court case?
You may have to pay the court costs of the winning party. In legal terms, we refer to them as ‘costs’ or ‘disbursements’.
The amount owed will depend on how much money is awarded by the judge in your favour and also on whether a lawyer represents you.
If you are unsuccessful in your case, then you will be ordered to pay for part or all of the cost that was incurred by your opponent. This can work out expensive if it’s your own mistakes that led to them winning their case!
If a money judgement is made against me, but the other party has not paid my costs, can I still claim those costs from them?
The answer is yes. You can still claim your costs from the other party even if they are still in default and have not paid your legal costs yet. The court may order that you pay your own legal fees and costs, or it may make a money judgement against you for what the other party owes to you. If this happens, it will be up to you whether to claim any of these payments from the other party afterwards—but if they are made part of an order from a magistrate’s court, justice dictates that they should be recovered by whatever means possible (unless there is something specific written into their agreement).
The only exception is when there was no agreement between yourself and the person whom you were suing; here there would be nothing binding which could force them into paying any amounts awarded with legal fees or costs incurred while disputing your claim with them (or defending themselves against one). This means that unless both parties agreed beforehand on who would bear responsibility for these expenses, then neither could expect any help financially during proceedings being brought against them through civil litigation processes imposed upon them by another individual seeking recompense after having suffered a loss because of negligence etcetera caused by others involved with their lives.”
How can I avoid having to pay legal costs?
It’s always good to avoid going to court in the first place, but if you find yourself there and you lose, don’t be surprised if you have to pay legal costs. In most cases, if a party wins their case and has proven that they were right—or that they were in the right—then they are entitled to receive their legal costs from the other party.
Sometimes, however, a judge may decide not to award the winning party any of their legal costs at all. This could happen if:
- The parties agreed before going into court that no fees would be awarded for either side; or
- The judge decides it was clear from the start that one side had no chance of winning; or
- The losing party deliberately wasted time during proceedings by doing things like changing lawyers midway through a trial because they knew it would slow down proceedings and make things more expensive for everyone involved
How are legal costs calculated?
We calculate legal costs in South Africa on a case-by-case basis. The court looks at the amount of work done on your case and the time spent working on it. This means that if one lawyer worked for 40 hours on a particular matter, and another lawyer worked for 100 hours, their legal fees will not be equal.
The cost of each matter is determined by factoring in:
- The time spent by lawyers on each matter (e.g., how much time was required to research and draft documents)
- The amount of money spent by lawyers on each matter (e.g., how many photocopies were made, what type of stationery was used)
Does the amount to be repaid include VAT?
There’s a common misconception that you always pay legal costs back in full with interest. Most court orders stipulate legal costs at a fixed hourly rate rather than on an actual cash value basis. This means that if your lawyer charges $100 per hour and you have to pay him/her $1 000 for their services, then only this amount can be recovered from your debtor (which means they only have to pay back $1 000). You will pay legal costs in instalments over several months or years, but if there’s no other court order requiring repayment of money owed by your debtor (such as child support), then there may not be any other way for them to repay it except through their income.
Legal costs may also include disbursements such as filing fees, photocopying and so forth, but these won’t usually exceed 10% of the total amount payable under the judgment or order issued by a magistrate’s court
What if I can pay only part of the amount due for my legal fees now?
If you can only pay a portion of the legal costs due, the court will order that a portion of the money be paid immediately and that the balance be paid in instalments. The court will also order that interest be paid on any outstanding amount until it is fully cleared.
A lawyer can help with these matters by providing you with information about how much money is due for your legal fees and explaining how we can work together to ensure that those payments are made.
How are legal costs paid?
The losing party will pay the legal costs of the successful party, who must pay all the court costs in full. Costs are payable as a lump sum unless agreed otherwise.
The calculation of how much a person should pay in terms of legal costs is based on each case’s specific circumstances and does not follow any fixed formula. However, it is possible for a judge to order parties to make an interim or final payment before they have decided their case if they believe there may be difficulties collecting money from someone who might not afford it.
You can usually only claim legal fees from people who have means (such as salaries) but this will depend on whether the court considers them responsible enough to handle such payments themselves without causing hardship to themselves or others living within their household (such as children). Sometimes, the court may waive legal fees:
- The applicant cannot afford them; or
- the respondent agrees with this decision because he thinks he has been treated unfairly by his opponents’ legal counsel
In most cases, the judge will order the losing party to pay your legal costs. However, this won’t include all of them—the amount depends on things like what kind of case it was and whether there were any special circumstances in play.
A typical South African court order will look something like this:
“The plaintiff is entitled to its costs from the defendant.”
Conclusion
It’s important to know where you stand with paying legal costs after your case. If you don’t understand what a court order means, then make sure you ask someone who does. You don’t want to be surprised by unexpected expenses!
