Who has to pay your lawyer?

Sometimes your insurance company has to pay a lawyer for you (check your insurance policy).

If you meet certain conditions, you may qualify for free legal assistance, which means your lawyer will work (fully or partly) free for you.

In case of legal proceedings, Belgian courts usually order the losing party to pay the court costs, including a compensation for the lawyers’ fees paid by the winning party.

How do Belgian lawyers charge?

Belgian lawyers do not charge fixed rates for their legal services. Counsel’s fees are fixed in consultation with the client. An hourly rate, a fixed sum or a percentage can be agreed (for example: in debt collection cases, a charge equal to a percentage of the invoice value).

Clients receive a detailed account of the fees (the hours worked if an hourly rate is applied), the office expenses not included in the hourly tariff, and the other expenses incurred for the client (such as court registry fees and bailiff’s expenses).

Belgian lawyers are not permitted to apply the ‘No cure, no pay’ principle.

Click here for specifics concerning the cost of my intervention.