Court costs are the fees the court system itself charges to move a case from filing to resolution, and whoever opens the case pays them first. In federal civil court, the filing fee alone is $405.1United States District Court – Eastern District of New York. Court Fees State and local courts set their own fees, which vary widely. If you win, the losing side usually has to reimburse most of what you paid. If you can’t afford to pay at the outset, you can apply for a fee waiver before you file.
What Court Costs Actually Include
The filing fee is the biggest single charge, but it’s not the only one. Costs accumulate throughout a case in fairly predictable categories.
- Service of process. Getting legal papers officially delivered to the other party through a sheriff or private process server typically costs $40 to $150 per defendant.
- Witness fees. In federal court, each witness is entitled to $40 per day of attendance plus mileage reimbursement.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1821 – Per Diem and Mileage Generally
- Court reporter transcripts. A verbatim transcript of a deposition or hearing runs roughly $4.50 to $7.00 per page. A single deposition can easily produce 100 pages or more.
- Jury fees. Some courts charge a daily fee when you request a jury trial in a civil case.
- Copying and certification. Courts charge for certified copies, and electronic access through the federal PACER system costs $0.10 per page, capped at 30 pages per document.3United States Courts. Electronic Public Access Fee Schedule
All of this is separate from what you pay your own lawyer. Attorney fees are a private charge for legal representation. Court costs are what the court system itself charges to handle the case.
Who Pays and When
The plaintiff pays first. Filing fees, service costs, and other upfront charges come out of the pocket of whoever starts the lawsuit. The defendant then pays their own costs as they come up, like fees for filing motions or subpoenas for their own witnesses.
At the end of the case, the default rule in federal court is that the losing side reimburses the winner’s court costs. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(d) creates a presumption that costs “should be allowed to the prevailing party.”4Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 54 – Judgment Costs Judges can override that presumption, and they sometimes do when the result is mixed or when the losing party shows real financial hardship. But the starting point favors the winner.
Settlements work differently. When a case settles before trial, there’s no default rule, because a settlement is a private contract. The parties negotiate who absorbs what, and most agreements include a provision on costs. The most common arrangement is for each side to bear its own.
What a Winner Can and Can’t Recover
Winning doesn’t mean you get back every dollar you spent. Federal law limits recoverable costs to six specific categories: clerk and marshal fees, transcript fees, witness fees and printing, copying costs for materials necessarily obtained for the case, docket fees, and compensation for interpreters and court-appointed experts.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1920 – Taxation of Costs
Notice what’s missing. You generally can’t recover fees paid to your own privately hired expert witnesses. You can’t recover research costs, travel expenses, or time away from work. The gap between what litigation actually costs and what the winner can recover is often large, and it catches people off guard. A judgment in your favor doesn’t necessarily leave you financially whole.
Why Attorney Fees Are a Separate Question
Court costs and attorney fees are legally distinct, and the rules for recovering each are completely different. The American Rule, which governs most U.S. litigation, says each side pays its own attorney fees regardless of who wins. That’s the opposite of the “loser pays” systems used in most other countries.
There are exceptions. Dozens of federal statutes authorize fee-shifting in specific types of cases: civil rights lawsuits, wage and hour disputes under the Fair Labor Standards Act, consumer credit cases under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and certain environmental enforcement actions all carry fee-shifting provisions. A prevailing plaintiff in those cases can recover reasonable attorney fees on top of court costs. Some contracts also include fee-shifting clauses, which courts generally enforce.
So if someone tells you the loser always pays “all costs,” they’re conflating two different things. Court costs shift to the loser by default. Attorney fees almost never do unless a specific statute or contract requires it.
Court Costs in Criminal Cases
Criminal cases follow different rules. A defendant who is convicted typically gets assessed court costs as part of the sentence. In federal court, every conviction triggers a mandatory special assessment: $25 for a Class A misdemeanor and $100 for a felony.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3013 – Special Assessment on Convicted Persons State courts tack on their own assessments, which can include fees for law enforcement, crime victim funds, and court technology. These add up quickly, even for minor offenses.
If a defendant is acquitted, they generally owe nothing in court costs. Indigent defendants who qualify for a public defender don’t pay attorney fees upfront, though some states try to recoup defense costs after conviction through payment plans.
Fee Waivers for People Who Can’t Afford to File
If you can’t afford court costs, you can ask the court for permission to proceed “in forma pauperis,” which is the legal term for filing without prepaying fees. In federal court, this is governed by 28 U.S.C. ยง 1915, which allows any court to waive prepayment for a person who submits an affidavit showing they are unable to pay.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1915 – Proceedings In Forma Pauperis State courts have similar programs, usually with their own application forms.
The application asks for a detailed financial picture. Expect to document:
- Income, through recent pay stubs, tax returns, or proof of government benefits.
- Household size and the number of people who depend on your income.
- Monthly expenses, including rent or mortgage, utilities, food, transportation, and medical costs.
- Assets, including bank balances, property, vehicles, and anything else of value.
Many courts use the federal poverty guidelines as a benchmark and typically grant waivers for applicants whose income falls below 125% to 200% of those figures, though judges have discretion and look at the full picture rather than applying a rigid cutoff. File the waiver application at the same time you file your case. The clerk forwards it to a judge, and the case can proceed while the court decides. A ruling usually comes within a few days to two weeks.
What a Fee Waiver Doesn’t Do
Getting approved removes the biggest barrier to filing, but it doesn’t make litigation free. Expert witness fees are the most notable gap. The in forma pauperis statute covers standard witness attendance fees, but the professional fees charged by expert witnesses, which can run hundreds or thousands of dollars per hour, generally aren’t included. The court may cover transcript costs for proceedings before a magistrate judge or for printing the appellate record, but that’s discretionary.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1915 – Proceedings In Forma Pauperis Service of process, travel, and copying costs for discovery documents may still fall on you.
There’s also a catch at the end of the case. Even with a waiver, the court can enter a judgment for costs against you if you lose. The waiver lets you start the case without paying. It doesn’t guarantee you’ll never owe anything.
Honesty on the application matters more than people realize. If the court determines that your claim of poverty was false, it must dismiss your case, even if you’ve already paid part of the filing fee. Because the application is a sworn affidavit, deliberately false financial statements can also expose you to perjury charges. If your waiver is denied, courts typically give you a window of 10 to 20 days to pay the required fees or submit additional documentation, and you can file a motion to reconsider if your circumstances have changed.
Appeals and Unpaid Costs
Losing at trial and wanting to appeal adds a fresh layer of fees. In federal court, the total for filing an appeal is $605, which includes a $5 statutory fee and a $600 docketing fee.8United States Courts. Court of Appeals Miscellaneous Fee Schedule On top of that, you may need to order the trial transcript (potentially thousands of dollars for a multi-day trial) and post a bond to stay enforcement of the judgment while the appeal is pending.9United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Rule 7 – Bond for Costs on Appeal in a Civil Case If you had in forma pauperis status in the lower court, you can file a motion to continue it on appeal, though the trial court can block a pauper appeal it certifies as not taken in good faith.
If a court orders you to pay costs and you don’t, the other side can enforce the judgment the same way they’d enforce any money judgment: wage garnishment, bank account levies, and liens on property are all available. The judgment accrues interest until paid. On the filing side, failing to pay required court fees generally results in dismissal, and because the filing fee is considered earned the moment the case is filed, you still owe it even if the case is dismissed. For defendants ordered to pay costs as part of a criminal sentence, nonpayment can trigger additional penalties, including extended supervision or a hearing on your ability to pay.