A Historical Change In The Chinese Courts’ Attitude Towards Recovery Of Lawyers’ Fees

Under Chinese law, not all costs follow the event. In practice, the Chinese courts have long been notoriously reluctant in upholding a claim for the litigant’s lawyers’ fees. However, in March 2017, the Supreme People’s Court of China in Wu Xiaoguang v Li Qiang & Others [2016] Supreme Court Civil Final No. 613 espoused the view that where parties have contractually agreed that one party shall bear the lawyers’ fees of the other party, the Court ought to award a successful litigant its lawyer fees. This Update provides a summary of the decision and its potential impact.