Yes you can claim your lawyer fees in a lawsuit. You will almost never get all of your legal fees paid in the lawsuit.

Generally speaking, in Ontario, if you win the lawsuit you will get part of your legal fees paid by the other side. When the other side pays part of your lawyer fees this is called “costs”. There are many factors that determine how much costs you will get but it is usually about 1/3 to 2/3 of your legal fees.

You may be able to get significantly higher costs if you have filed an offer of settlement and after a trial you get a judgment more than the amount of your offer.

If you lose the lawsuit you will not get your costs and may be ordered by the judge to pay the costs or legal fees of the winning side.

You should discuss costs with your lawyer when:

• You discuss legal fees
• When making an offer of settlement
• When accepting or rejecting an offer of settlement
• Before the start of the trial
• And any other time you have concerns