Court costs (also called
law-costs, or in the United States,
Attorney's fees) are the costs of handling a case, which, depending on legal rules, may or may not include the costs of the various parties in a
lawsuit in addition to the costs of the
court itself. Court costs can reach very high amounts, often far beyond the actual monetary worth of a case. Cases are known in which one party won the case, but lost more than the monetary worth in court costs. Court costs may be 'awarded' to one or both parties in a lawsuit, or they may be waived.