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If you have encountered an issue that you believe can best be resolved with the help of the law, you may be wondering: “Does it cost money to sue someone?” or “Is it expensive to sue someone?” Unfortunately, more often than not, initiating a lawsuit is costly both in time and money. This is especially so if you have hired an attorney to help you navigate the legal system rather than attempting to go it alone in what is known as a pro se action.
So, how much is a lawsuit, exactly? There are several factors that must be considered that will impact the average lawsuit cost when suing an individual, a business, or other type of organization. Some of these factors include:
- What amount are you suing for?
- What type of action are you suing for?
- Are you hiring an attorney?
- Are the allegations of a complex nature?
- Is the lawsuit likely to be significantly contentious?
Key Takeaways
What amount are you suing for?
If the amount you are suing for is less than $10,000, you will need to bring your action in small claims court. Small claims court is the correct venue if you are only seeking money, as that is the only judgment a small claims court judge is permitted to order.
It is not the correct place to sue if you are seeking to have someone or an organization be forced to or prevented from doing something you want them to either do or stop doing. Small claims court judges cannot force anyone or any organization to do anything or not do it. They also cannot order that property be turned over, so the only thing you can recover in small claims court is money, not tangible assets.
Suppose you require that a court order an action rather than just a payment, you will need to sue in the civil district court which has jurisdiction over the matter at hand. This is also the proper venue for actions involving an amount in excess of $10,000.
Filing Fees
You will have to pay a filing fee in both small claims court and civil district court. The filing fees in small claims court will depend on the amount you are suing for and typically fall within the $200-$400 range in counties across the state of Illinois.
For example, the Circuit Court of Cook County has a fee schedule you can reference on their website. For actions involving an amount up to $2,500, a new case filing fee of $287 will apply, as well as an appearance fee of $150. For actions involving an amount between $2,500 and $15,000, a new case filing fee of $379 will apply, as well as an appearance fee of $250. For actions involving an amount over $15,000, a new case filing fee of $388 will apply, as well as an appearance fee of $250.
If you are not able to afford a filing fee, you can apply for it to be waived by completing the necessary form and providing an explanation of your need for financial assistance. You will need to provide information on the following matters:
-If you receive any government assistance
-Your earnings from the past month
-Your earnings from the past year
-Your monthly expenses
-What your possessions are worth
Once you have this information gathered, you can complete the necessary forms. The Illinois court system offers a list of standardized state forms on its website, and Illinois Legal Aid provides a Fee Waiver easy-to-complete program to help you avoid making mistakes in your forms.
Cost of Service of Process
Another aspect of the cost to sue someone that must be considered is the price tag for the service of process. A process server or sheriff will need to serve the opposing party in your action with a copy of your complaint against them and a summons to appear before the court. Process servers typically charge a fee for each attempt to serve process on your legal advisory, as well as for each defendant that needs to be served.
One example of a process service company is called Elite Process Serving. It serves Illinois, Florida, and other states nationwide. Their costs are broken down as follows:
- Their Illinois Local County Routine Service costs $85 per defendant per address. This includes up to 5 attempts at serving process and includes the following counties:
-Grundy County
-Kankakee County
-LaSalle County
- Their Illinois Outlying County Routine Service costs $105 per defendant per address and includes up to 5 attempts at the serving process.
- Their Nationwide Routine Service costs $150 per defendant per address. They do not list the maximum number of attempts to serve the process.
They also have add-on services, which increase the fees. Below are some examples of the add-on services they offer:
- Same Day Service, which means it will be done as soon as possible and up to 24 hours costs an additional $150 on top of the standard service fee.
- Rush Service, which means it will be done within 24 to 48 hours, is an additional $75 on top of the standard service fee.
- Coordinated Service costs an additional $50.
- Arranged Service costs an additional $50.
- Service done at a Prison or a Military Base costs an additional $50.
- There is also the option for Surveillance and Waiting Time, which costs $125 per hour and is applied to a 2 hour minimum surveillance or wait time.
Beyond that, they also offer additional services such as:
- A skip trace, which costs $75. This is a process of locating someone who has disappeared or moved. People sometimes relocate in order to avoid legal issues or responsibilities. Skip tracing involves verifying their personal information, scouring public records, and sometimes even contacting people who may know the person you are trying to find.
- Affidavit of Due Diligence and Evading Service costs an additional $75 on top of the standard service fee.
- A Property or Tenant Inspection costs an additional $85.
- A Service via Posting costs an additional $85.
- Service via Email, Text , or Social Media costs an additional $65. They do not specify a maximum number of attempts to serve process for that cost.
- Service undertaken via Regular and/or Certified Mail costs an additional $65. They likewise do not specify a maximum number of attempts, but it is safe to assume that each attempt costs $65.
How Much Does a Lawyer Cost to Sue Someone?
Another very important factor to take into consideration when you wonder, “how much money does it cost to sue someone?” is attorney’s fees. If you require the assistance of legal counsel, they will schedule you for a consultation so that they can understand what your legal matter will entail. Once they get a picture of what can be expected, they will relay this information to you and give you a general summary of what you can expect to spend to litigate your matter.
Once that has been established, you will need to read and sign off on an Attorney Retention Agreement. This will include a breakdown of the fees and will require you, as the new client, to agree to a compensation structure for attorney and paralegal time. Each attorney’s rates are different, but you can expect something along the following lines:
- Paralegal Rates can range from $150 to over $350 per hour, depending on the firm, and Senior Paralegal Rates can be even higher than that
- Junior Associate Attorney’s rates can range from $200 to upwards of $700 per hour, depending on the firm, and Associate Attorney’s rates can be even higher than that
- Senior Attorney’s rates can range from $400 to upwards of $800 per hour
- Partner level and Senior Partner level fees can sometimes be startlingly high, ranging from $500 to upwards of a thousand dollars per hour, depending on the firm.
Something to note is that these rates do not necessarily reflect how much money the paralegals and attorneys actually earn but rather what it costs to run the firm as a whole. These are highly trained and knowledgeable professionals, and their rates reflect the level of expertise that they bring to the table. It is no surprise that the better your attorney, the better your chances of success will be in your litigation journey.
Now, you might be wondering what the attorneys and paralegals are doing in the time for which you pay them. Below is a list of examples:
- Researching your matter: this can include pulling up the docket for your matter if they are not the first attorney you have retained to litigate it. This can also include conducting research on the subject matter. For example, you may be suing for a breach of contract, and your attorney will conduct research on the local and state laws involving a breach of contract action. They may check to see if any changes have recently been made to the laws and will read through previous cases to understand how courts have ruled on the specific type of matter at hand.
- Completing financial affidavits: this will include gathering all the necessary financial information you can provide. The purpose of the Financial Affidavit is to provide the court with a “snapshot” of your current financial situation, i.e., your income, expenses, liabilities, and assets. To complete the Affidavit, you will be required to forward supporting documents in the form of Tax Returns, paystubs, K1s, bank statements, credit card statements, loan documentation, mortgage statements, retirement account statements, and the like- to verify the figures noted on the Affidavit.
- Phone calls with you to assess the situation further as new things come up during the process.
- Phone calls with opposing counsel to assess their perspective and strategy
- Formulating a litigation plan.
- Drafting the complaint, motions, petitions, answers to motions and petitions, requests to admit, and various other pleadings and orders.
- Court appearances for various hearings like status hearings and hearings on motions, pretrial conferences, and ultimately, if all else fails, at trial
Some attorneys work on a contingency basis. This is only permitted in certain types of cases and involves an attorney collecting a percentage of the amount you receive if you either win or settle a lawsuit successfully. So, rather than a fixed hourly fee, an attorney working on a contingency fee basis will only be compensated if they succeed in bringing about a beneficial result for their client. This percentage fee can range from 20% to 50% of the amount awarded to their client.
Examples of Things That Can Affect the Average Cost of a Lawsuit
Imagine you are suing someone for property damage. They drove over your lawn and severely damaged your garden with its expensive landscaping and custom elements. They contend in response that the damage was not caused by them but was actually caused by a severe storm. They further contend that a tree in your yard actually damaged their car as they drove by.
Your attorney will have many facts to try to verify and will need to perform extensive work in coordinating with the dueling insurance companies, local authorities, and potentially various experts, on top of issuing requests to admit and interrogatories to the opposing side, answering requests to admit and interrogatories, drafting and filing motions, and appearing in court for various hearings, pretrial conferences, and at trial.
On top of that, because the opposing party has leveled their own accusations against you and has filed a counterclaim to that effect, your attorney will have to respond to the counterclaim (s) and engage in a great deal of negotiation with opposing counsel. This will all add up in terms of time and, therefore, expense.
How Much Does It Cost to Sue Someone for Defamation?
A defamation lawsuit occurs when someone believes that they have been slandered or libeled by another party. They may believe that their earning power has been diminished by the slander of libel due to reputational damage that prevents them from securing employment, for example.
Just like in many other types of cases, a lawsuit for defamation may cost tens of thousands of dollars. It is, therefore, important to weigh the costs of pursuing this action against the benefits. It is possible you will prevail and be awarded a hefty sum for whatever damage you suffered as a result of the slander or libel, but it is equally possible that the court will not find your situation particularly compelling, and you will have spent a large sum for nothing. That is a possibility in any legal action.
Conclusion
Ultimately, when considering whether it is worth it to pursue a lawsuit against someone, you need to do a cost-benefit analysis. Besides filing fees and paying a process server or sheriff, there are numerous attorney and paralegal fees that will add up. But if you stand to potentially win $100,000, spending $20,000 does seem reasonable in the end. It is all up to you, but you should know what you are getting yourself into before you move forward.
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