Qatar’s investment court recalibrates approach to attorney fee recovery

Whilst Qatar law permits the recovery of attorney fees (or ‘costs’) incurred by a winning party to a dispute, typically Qatari courts do not include such fees in their judgments, and instead limit cost orders to filing fees, appeal fees, expert fees, and enforcement-related costs. Attorney fees tend not to be identified as being recoverable as part of the enforcement stage.

This approach differs from arbitration, where legal costs follow the event, and are awarded by arbitral tribunals as part of the award sum.

However, in a recent case, the ITC broke tradition and awarded the winning party its attorney costs in a litigation case.

The Civil and Commercial Procedural Law of 1990 clearly allows parties to claim attorney fees and expressly states that the term “costs” includes attorney fees. In particular:

• Article 131 states that the “the costs of the lawsuit shall be borne by the party ordered to pay” and attorney fees shall be included in the costs.
• Article 136 states that the “costs of the lawsuit shall be assessed in the judgment, if possible, otherwise, they shall be assessed by the president of the authority which has rendered the judgment by an order on a petition brought by the prevailing party, and this order shall be notified to the party ordered to pay. The forfeiture specified in Article (146) shall not apply to this order.”
• Article 136, read together with article 131, provides that if the court does not specify an amount for attorney fees in its judgment, the prevailing party has the right to file a petition after the judgment has been issued, requesting the president of the authority that rendered the judgment to determine the costs related to the attorney fees incurred.

Typically, courts tend not to apply Article 131 to specify that the debtor has to pay the winning party’s specific amounts towards attorney fees. Equally, parties to Qatari litigation tend not to apply for such an order in their submissions. This approach may change following the recent decision by the ITC.

In a groundbreaking 2026 case the court awarded the winning party their legal costs including attorney fees. The awarded amount was significantly lower than the actual fees incurred by the successful party but, nonetheless, this case marks a positive development for parties with limited financial resources, who may otherwise be deterred from prosecuting valid claims in the Qatari courts for cost-related reasons.

What can parties do to ensure they recover legal costs when litigating in Qatar?

In the past, Qatari courts have rejected claims for legal fees on the grounds that the claim arises from a contract with a third party – the law firm – to which the other party to the case is not tied. Parties should therefore include express language in their contracts addressing the recoverability of attorney fees, as part of the dispute resolution clause.

Limitations

A party’s entitlement to recover legal costs is not uncapped. Pursuant to Article 37 of the Code of Law Practice (Law No. 23 of 2006 as amended by Law No. 19 of 2025), law firms may only recover fees of up to 25% of the amount awarded. The relevant provision states:

"The lawyer's fees are determined according to the agreement made between him and the concerned parties, and it may be agreed that the value of the fees shall not exceed (25%) of the value of what is awarded in the case."

It is also worth noting that it is not always the losing party that bears liability for costs and attorney fees. Article 132 of the Civil and Commercial Procedural Law of 1990 permits the judge to allocate costs differently and allows the judge discretion.

Parties involved in Qatari litigation are advised to consider their position in respect of recovery of legal costs and fees if they are successful, and be ready to assist the judge by clearly articulating and substantiating claims for legal fees in success scenarios.

For parties negotiating contracts, include specific language in the dispute resolution clause governing recoverability of attorney fees.

Co-written by Mohamed Adam of Pinsent Masons.