Out-Law / Your Daily Need-To-Know
Commercial legal actions brought across the Middle East can face different challenges and pitfalls when the issue of recovering fees is required to be addressed.
Different countries and territories have their own approaches to handling the issue of recovery, and being aware of the variations is key to ensuring not only the best chance of reimbursement, but in planning strategies around negotiation, contract drafting and even setting budgets for litigation in the first place.
As such, understanding what is required, and what it means for potential actions in the region, is an essential part of the action process – and may determine where you file a case in the first place.
The diverse nature of different legal jurisdictions across the GCC
In mapping the various approaches to dealing with the issue, a real-life case from the Saudi Commercial Court – involving a prevailing commercial plaintiff applying to recover the attorney fees it actually paid – is used as our criteria for measuring the differences.
Approach to fee recovery in Saudi Arabia
In Saudi practice, the plaintiff can bring the request for attorney‑fee reimbursement either within the main claim or as an ancillary/independent claim after winning on the merits. Courts look for clear documentation -such as retainer terms, invoices and time records - and for causation or necessity, that the defendant’s conduct through either delaying or obstructing matters forced the plaintiff to litigate.
Awards tend to be discretionary and reasonable, rather than full indemnity, and some commercial benches have referenced percentage‑style benchmarks in assessing what is fair in the circumstances. Practically, well‑supported applications do succeed, but outcomes are calibrated to proportionality and evidence quality.
Approach to fee recovery in the UAE
In the local civil courts, the default remains nominal attorney fee awards for the successful party - commonly AED 1,000–2,000 per stage - alongside recovery of court/expert expenses, and the courts do not generally shift the actual legal bills to the opponent.
However, there is a contract‑based route that has recently been reinforced at cassation level: where a contract expressly provides for fee‑shifting and the claimant proves the actual costs with detailed invoices and proof of payment closely tied to the proceedings, courts may grant full recovery. This is still exceptional and evidence‑driven, but there now a realistic path if the documentation is strong.
In practice, though, counsel should plead the contractual entitlement and file itemised billing and payment records. If that is not possible, expect nominal sums only.
Approach to fee recovery in Qatar
The position of the Qatari courts is grounded in the principle of contractual freedom between the parties. Accordingly, attorney fees are determined based on the agreement concluded between the lawyer and the client or contracting party.
This agreement cannot be disregarded or replaced by any other basis, unless the agreed fees exceed the maximum limit prescribed by Law No. 19 of 2025, which caps such fees at 25%.
Approach to fee recovery in Jordan
Plaintiffs ask for attorney fees as part of costs, and courts typically award limited amounts - usually not exceeding JOD 1,000- rather than the actual invoices paid to counsel. Court and expert expenses are also recoverable.
In practical terms, you should file receipts and expense vouchers and request the prevailing‑party figure recognised in local practice. Be prepared for the opponent not to be ordered to reimburse the full legal spend.
How does this impact you?
Based on the circumstances of our example case we can see the regional variations clearly. KSA does allow a focused motion grounded in necessity, with meaningful, often partial, recoveries in commercial matters, whereas the UAE onshore courts generally confine attorney‑fee awards to nominal amounts.
This means, depending on which country you are looking to file in, you need to consider your approach. If filing in KSA, be prepared to document your legal costs and include a claim for attorney fees when litigating.
For cases in the UAE always include a clear legal fees clause in contracts if you want a chance to recover actual fees - otherwise, you can expect to receive only nominal amounts
In Qatar, pre-agreement between lawyer and client will define what you are permitted to receive up to a maximum limit while in Jordan you should budget for only limited recovery of attorney fees, as courts award capped amounts.
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