Recovery Of Foreign Attorneys' Fees For Successful Litigants

Like most other common law jurisdictions, the "loser pays" principle for legal costs is well established under Cayman law. ¹ Successful parties in civil litigation before the Cayman Courts can ordinarily expect to recover their costs from the unsuccessful party, subject only to an assessment, conducted by a taxing officer of the Cayman Court, of the reasonableness of the quantum of costs incurred.

There is a limitation: a successful party, whose costs are to be taxed on a standard basis, is normally only able to recover the costs of those attorneys who have been admitted to practice in the Cayman Islands. Where a successful party has engaged attorneys in other jurisdictions, this limitation will mean that the fees of those foreign attorneys will not usually be capable of recovery.