In most appeals, each side pays its own attorney and its own expenses, win or lose. That is the default rule in American courts, and it answers most of the question of who pays for appeals. The important exceptions are a short list of “taxable costs” the losing party owes the winner after the decision, a set of statutes and contract clauses that can shift attorney’s fees to the loser, and sanctions for appeals the court finds frivolous.
What You Pay on Your Own
The baseline in American litigation is that every party covers its own attorney’s fees and expenses, regardless of outcome. This applies at trial and carries through to the appeal. The appellant pays its own lawyer, its filing fee, and the cost of the trial transcript. The appellee pays its own lawyer to draft a response brief and argue the case. Neither side gets reimbursed for attorney’s fees simply by winning.
Those expenses are not trivial. Docketing an appeal from a federal district court costs $605, and other appellate filings cost $600; state appellate filing fees vary.1United States Courts. Court of Appeals Miscellaneous Fee Schedule The appellate court needs a written record of what happened below, and federal court reporters may charge up to $4.40 per page for an ordinary transcript and up to $8.70 per page for same-day delivery.2United States Courts. Federal Court Reporting Program Attorney’s fees are the biggest line item. Appellate work is research-heavy and writing-intensive: reading the full trial record, identifying errors, researching precedent, drafting a brief, and possibly arguing orally. Appellate attorney’s fees commonly run from $10,000 to $50,000 or more in federal cases, depending on complexity.
An appellant who wants to delay paying a money judgment during the appeal may need to post a supersedeas bond, which guarantees payment if the appeal fails. Surety premiums generally range from 1% to 10% of the bond amount annually, depending on creditworthiness and jurisdiction. The trial court may also require a separate cost bond to ensure the appellant can pay the appellee’s costs if the appeal is lost.
Court Costs the Losing Party Owes
A narrow category of expenses called “taxable costs” does shift to the losing party. Federal law lets courts tax clerk and marshal fees, transcript fees for records necessarily obtained, printing and witness fees, and the cost of necessary copies against the non-prevailing side.3GovInfo. 28 USC 1920 – Taxation of Costs
At the appellate level, the list is narrower. Under the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, the winning party can recover the cost of reproducing briefs and appendices, the docketing fee, and any filing fee paid to the appellate court.4United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. FRAP 39 – Costs If the appellate court affirms, the losing appellant owes these costs to the appellee. If it reverses, the positions flip. When the ruling is affirmed in part and reversed in part, the court divides costs as it sees fit.
Filing a Bill of Costs
Recovery is not automatic. The winning party must file an itemized and verified bill of costs with the circuit clerk within 14 days after the court enters its judgment.5Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 39 – Costs Miss that window and the right to recover is gone. The bill must break down each expense with enough detail for the court and the opposing party to evaluate it.
Objecting to a Bill of Costs
If you lost and believe the claimed costs are inflated, unnecessary, or improperly categorized, you have 14 days after the bill is served to object, unless the court extends the time.5Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 39 – Costs Disputes over whether a transcript was “necessarily obtained” or whether reproduction costs were reasonable get resolved here. Courts do strike costs that fall outside the rules, so objections are worth filing when the numbers look wrong.
When Attorney’s Fees Shift to the Loser
Two established exceptions can put the winner’s attorney’s fees on the losing side’s tab, and both apply at trial and extend through any appeal.
Fee-Shifting Statutes
Congress has written fee-shifting provisions into many federal laws, especially those protecting civil rights and consumers. In civil rights cases brought under statutes such as 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1982, 1983, and 1985, the court may award reasonable attorney’s fees to the prevailing party.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 1988 – Proceedings in Vindication of Civil Rights Similar provisions appear in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Truth in Lending Act, the Fair Housing Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and dozens of others. If the fee-shifting provision applied at trial, it extends to the appeal.
A related provision is the Equal Access to Justice Act, which allows certain parties who prevail against the federal government to recover fees and costs. An individual qualifies with a net worth below $2 million; a business qualifies with a net worth below $7 million and fewer than 500 employees. The government avoids paying only if the court finds its position was “substantially justified.”7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 2412 – Costs and Fees The prevailing party must apply within 30 days of final judgment.
Contractual Fee-Shifting Clauses
Many commercial contracts include a “prevailing party” clause stating that the loser in any dispute pays the winner’s attorney’s fees. Courts enforce these clauses, and they extend to appeals. If the underlying case arose from a contract with that kind of provision and you lose the appeal, you pick up the other side’s appellate attorney bill on top of your own. The same clause works in your favor if you win. These provisions show up constantly in leases, loan agreements, construction contracts, and partnership agreements. Before filing an appeal in a contract case, check the agreement; the clause changes the risk calculation.
Interest While the Appeal Is Pending
A cost appellants often overlook is post-judgment interest. In federal court, interest begins accruing on a money judgment from the date the judgment is entered, not from the date the appeal is decided.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1961 – Interest The rate is tied to the weekly average one-year constant maturity Treasury yield for the week before judgment was entered, and interest compounds annually. An appeal that takes a year or two adds a meaningful amount to a large judgment. If you lose, you owe the original amount plus all the interest that accumulated while you were litigating.
Posting a supersedeas bond does not stop interest from running. The bond protects the appellee by guaranteeing payment at the end; the clock keeps ticking regardless. State courts generally follow a similar approach, with their own rate formulas.
Penalties for Frivolous Appeals
Filing an appeal with no reasonable legal basis can produce financial penalties beyond normal costs. Under the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, if a court of appeals determines that an appeal is frivolous, it may award “just damages and single or double costs” to the appellee.9Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 38 – Frivolous Appeal, Damages and Costs “Just damages” can include the appellee’s attorney’s fees for responding to a meritless appeal, and “double costs” means twice the normal taxable costs.
The court does not impose sanctions without warning. Either the appellee files a separate motion requesting sanctions, or the court issues notice itself. Either way, the person facing sanctions gets a reasonable opportunity to respond before any penalty is imposed. A passing reference to sanctions buried in a party’s brief does not count as a proper motion. Attorneys can be held personally liable in egregious cases.
If You Cannot Afford to Appeal
The system has a safety valve for people who genuinely cannot afford the expense. In federal court, you can file a motion to proceed “in forma pauperis,” which waives the requirement to prepay fees or post security. The motion must include an affidavit detailing your income, assets, and expenses.10Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 24 – Proceeding in Forma Pauperis If granted, the motion eliminates court-related fees like the filing fee.
The waiver has real limits. It covers your own court fees. It does not protect you from paying the other side’s costs or attorney’s fees if you lose and a statute or contract requires it. For prisoners, in forma pauperis status does not mean free filing: the statute requires prisoners to pay the full filing fee in installments from their prison accounts, starting with 20% of their average monthly deposits or balance.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1915 – Proceedings in Forma Pauperis Prisoners with three or more prior cases dismissed as frivolous or malicious face additional restrictions.
Court-Appointed Counsel in Criminal Appeals
Criminal cases work differently. The Supreme Court held in Douglas v. California that an indigent defendant has a constitutional right to appointed counsel for the first appeal as of right.12FindLaw. Douglas v. California, 372 U.S. 353 (1963) The government pays for this attorney through the federal defender system or court-appointment programs. The right applies to the first direct appeal, not to discretionary appeals to higher courts or collateral attacks like habeas corpus petitions.
Deadlines That Precede Every Cost Question
None of these allocation rules matter if the appeal is filed late. In federal court, the notice of appeal in a civil case must be filed within 30 days after the judgment or order being appealed is entered. When the federal government is a party, that deadline extends to 60 days. In criminal cases, a defendant has 14 days.13Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 4 – Appeal as of Right, When Taken These deadlines are jurisdictional in most circuits, meaning the court lacks power to hear a late appeal. State courts set their own deadlines, which vary but are equally rigid. Every cost-planning decision flows from preserving the right to appeal in the first place.