Definition : Extrajudicial fees (lawyer)

Professional fees that a client must pay to the lawyer representing him or her. In principle, each party involved in a dispute must bear the extrajudicial fees of its own lawyer. One of the exceptions to this principle is abuse of rights. Thus, the Code of Civil Procedure provides that the court has the power to punish substantial breaches noted in the conduct of the proceeding by ordering the offending party to pay the professional fees of the other party’s lawyer. In addition, a penal clause, incorporated in the declaration of co-ownership, may provide that an offender co-owner is required, in certain circumstances, to assume the extrajudicial fees of the syndicate's lawyer.