If I can't win the lawsuit, do I have to pay the lawyer's fee?

Attorney's fees are usually paid by the client. Generally speaking, whoever hires a lawyer pays. However, in some cases, if the parties to the contract have an agreement on the subject matter of attorney fees, or in some intellectual property cases such as trademark rights and patent rights, if the plaintiff asks the defendant to bear the attorney fees arising from the investigation and stop the infringement in the complaint, the court may decide that the attorney fees shall be borne by the losing party.

In addition, if both parties stipulate in the contract that the lawyer's fee shall be borne by the losing party, then the lawsuit request for lawyer's fee will generally be supported in the case of prosecution or arbitration. Therefore, when drawing up a contract, both parties to the contract can list the lawyer's fees as compensation for breach of contract, and even specify the way and standard of bearing the lawyer's fees in detail. When drafting such a breach of contract clause, we must pay special attention to clearly stating "lawyer's fees". The plaintiff must submit the entrustment contract signed with the law firm and the lawyer's fee invoice issued by the law firm as evidence to pay the lawyer's fee. But how much specific support depends on the judge's discretion. According to the nature of the case, the court will usually support the "reasonable" lawyer's fee, not the full fee.

Legal basis: payment method of litigation expenses

Twenty-ninth litigation costs shall be borne by the losing party, unless the winning party voluntarily bears it. If the case is partially won or partially lost, the people's court shall decide the amount of litigation costs borne by the parties according to the specific circumstances of the case. * * * If the parties lose the case, the people's court shall decide the amount of litigation expenses to be borne by each party according to the interest relationship between the parties and the litigation object.

Article 30 If the people's court of second instance changes the judgment or ruling of the people's court of first instance, it shall accordingly change the decision of the people's court of first instance on the burden of litigation costs.

Article 31 In a case reached through mediation by a people's court, the burden of litigation costs shall be settled by both parties through consultation; If negotiation fails, the people's court shall make a judgment.

Article 32 If the provisions of Item (1) and Item (2) of Article 9 of these Measures are met, the litigation expenses shall be borne by the party applying for retrial; If both parties apply for retrial, the litigation costs shall be borne in accordance with the provisions of Article 29 of these Measures. The burden of litigation costs in the original trial shall be re-determined by the people's court according to the principle of litigation costs burden.