Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Wisconsin

The general rule in WI on recovery of attorney fees is that each party to a lawsuit is solely responsible for his or her own fees only and not for the opposing party's, regardless of whether or not they win. While there is a very small court cost item which is usually awarded to the winner, it is limited to one or two hundred dollars and is not intended to reimburse anyone for actual fees incurred. There are exceptions to this rule which are rarely used, except for landlord tenant cases and other cases involving WI Fair Trade laws, where actual reasonable fees are mandated for the winner. Even then, however, the amount awarded by the judge may only be a small percentage of fees actually incurred. Even in cases which otherwise require an award of attorney fees, when there is a settlement, these rules no longer apply, and each party instead pays their own fees from the settlement proceeds. Please do not assume that I am your attorney because of my response here, but feel free to call my office in Racine (262-633-3090 or email [email protected]) for clarifications regarding my answer. Otherwise, under the rules of this website, I would not be taking any further action on your case. See me on the web at www.jayknixonlaw.com. View my past answers at http://www.avvo.com/attorneys/53401-wi-jay-nixon-1529181/answers.html?sort=recency , or see an even larger collection of responses at http://www.lawguru.com/answers/search/attorney/jknixon, . Answers may contain attorney advertising materials..