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A bill of costs, is an itemized list of court costs incurred by the prevailing party in a lawsuit. The prevailing party submits this list to the court and the losing party after a judgment has been issued in the case. This itemized statement can be used to determine how much of the prevailing party’s costs the losing party will pay.
A bill of cost can include fees of the clerk, fees for service of summons and subpoena, fees for printing, fees for witnesses, compensation of court-appointed experts, etc. Statutes typically limit what can be included in the cost bill and attorney fees are usually a cost not allowed to be included.
Party and party costs:
Party and party costs are legal costs that a court may order the defendant to pay to the plaintiff in a court case.
This doesn’t mean that if you win your case, the “losing side” will simply pay all your legal fees. It’s not quite this straightforward.
Party and party costs are costs incurred in the course of prosecuting or defending a claim in court.
They’re specific to the court case. They don’t include legal costs incurred before a summons or notice of motion has been issued and served.
They also don’t include costs related to attendances between you and your attorney. For instance, they don’t necessarily include charges for the time an attorney spends communicating with you. However, they do include the attorney’s charges for time spent communicating with the other party’s attorney, as part of your court case.
Party and party costs are subject to court tariffs, which are set by law and charged according to fixed scales. Note that the tariffs charged by Magistrates’ Courts differ from those charged by High Courts.
Attorney and client costs:
Attorney and client costs include party and party costs, as well as other legal costs – including charges for attendances between you and your attorney.
In some situations, the Courts may award attorney and client costs, or a portion of these costs, to the 0successful litigant in a case. However, this is seldom done.
When this does occur, it may be because there was a contractual dispute and it was a specific term of the contract that attorney and client costs would be payable in the event of such a dispute. Alternatively, it may occur where a Court believes that a litigant’s conduct in the course of the litigation has been such that a punitive costs order is warranted.
Where attorney and client costs are awarded, the costs are subject to the same court tariffs as party and party costs.
Often, party and party costs are paid towards the full attorney and client costs that are owed. The client is then liable for whatever legal costs remain.
Attorney and “own” client costs:
A third category of legal costs in South Africa are so-called attorney and “own” client costs.
These are the actual fees payable by a client to an attorney, in terms of their fee agreement (in which case the hourly rate is not restricted to the statutory Magistrates and High Court tariffs). They’re not generally awarded by the Courts.
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After you’ve won a case and have been awarded legal costs, a bill of costs is prepared – often by an external service provider known as a cost consultant – and served on the unsuccessful party. It’s also forwarded to an officer of the Courts known as the taxing master.
The taxing master decides which costs are recoverable, and payable by the losing party in your case. This process is known as “taxation”.
The taxing master signs and stamps a certificate known as an “allocator”, which can be used to enforce the payment of legal costs by the losing party.