Debrecen

Antall József str. 36., gf. 1.

+36 20 445 8480

On weekdays 8 AM to 5 PM

Open: 8 AM to 5 PM

On weekends we are closed

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Litigation attorney's fee calculator

Estimate the expected attorney's fee for your first-instance proceedings

We most often bill by the hour for legal advice and for litigation.

If you go on to instruct us, the first consultation is credited against later fees. This means that if you sign an engagement contract with us on that first occasion for the matter concerned, the consultation is not charged separately. And if, after a chargeable consultation, you later decide to instruct us to represent you, the earlier fee is credited in full against the later fee. For example, you book a consultation about litigation and a week later decide to start proceedings with our help.

We divide litigation into two stages: the written stage preceding courtroom representation, and the courtroom stage, which begins after the summons. Where the value of the claim cannot be determined or is very low, we generally align the fee with this, combining a base fee and an hourly rate:

  • We usually take on the written stage for a base fee, since we can roughly estimate the hours needed to prepare the submissions, including any reply or rejoinder beyond the statement of claim or defence. The courtroom stage, however, is billed by the hour: it cannot be foreseen how many hearings there will be or how long they will last, how often a consultation is needed between hearings, or whether the court will call for further submissions.
  • In more complex cases the workload of the written stage may also be impossible to estimate, in which case we take on the whole proceeding on a purely hourly basis instead of a base fee.

LITIGATION ATTORNEY'S FEE CALCULATOR (2026)

Value of the claim (HUF):
Fee that may be awarded (net): 500,000 HUF
The calculation is based on the Hungarian Ministry of Justice decree on legal costs awardable in court proceedings, Decree 17/2024 (XII. 9.) IM.
Section 3(1) The fee, unless this decree provides otherwise, is:
a) where the value of the claim does not exceed HUF 10 million: 5% of that value, but at least HUF 10,000;
b) where the value exceeds HUF 10 million but does not exceed HUF 100 million: the fee under point a) plus 3% of the amount above HUF 10 million;
c) where the value exceeds HUF 100 million: the fee under point b) plus 1% of the amount above HUF 100 million.
The fee set out in Section 3 does not include the VAT chargeable on the service; VAT is added on top of the fee as the tax base. Where the lawyer has a right to deduct VAT under the VAT Act, only the net amount of the invoiced cost increases the tax base.

While the value of the matter is a key question in setting the fee in litigation, assessing the complexity of the case is even more important. A case with a huge amount at stake can be straightforward, while a low-value case can be particularly complex – the facts matter greatly here.

Transparency and cost-effectiveness are among our firm’s core values, and we believe they matter most when accounting to clients. We use second-based time-tracking software, and clients can check in the resulting report at any time when and how much time we spent on each part of the matter.

Again from experience, we can say why we do not consider a fee fixed for the whole proceeding appropriate where the value of the claim is low or cannot be determined: either the client or the lawyer ends up worse off financially. If a high fixed fee is agreed and the matter is settled quickly, the client may well feel they paid a great deal for what looks like little work. If, on the other hand, the matter drags on for years because of unforeseeable circumstances, the lawyer has done a great deal of work at a loss. That is why we believe that in litigation an hourly rate is the most transparent arrangement: the client pays only for the hours actually spent on the matter.

In litigation every detail carries weight. If you want a realistic view of your options and to start proceedings with a thoroughly prepared legal argument, request a bespoke quote or book a consultation.

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