Costs and Disbursements

Generally, the prevailing party recovers not only the amount of the judgment but also the costs and expenses of the suit. These include filing fees, government taxes, witness fees, and the like, but not funds spent in the preparation of the case.Many contracts, leases, mortgages, deeds of trust or promissory notes provide that the "prevailing party" shall be entitled to recovery of attorney's fees and costs if legal action must be taken to enforce the agreement. Even if the plaintiff gets much less than the claim, they are the prevailing party entitled to include attorney's fees in the collectable costs. Usually there is no prevailing party when a complaint is voluntarily dismissed prior to trial or settled before or after trial has begun.