NORWAY Law and Practice Contributed by: Andreas Stang Lund, Per Conradi Andersen, Alexander Daae and Emilie Wilberg, Kvale Advokatfirma DA
5.4 Insurance Insurance coverage for litigation is available, but main- ly as standard clauses in the insurance agreement for estates, or as specific coverage for board members and for professionals who may risk causing damages when performing their profession – lawyers, doctors, construction companies, etc. In addition, most home insurance includes a certain and quite restricted cov- erage of legal costs for the handling of private claims and disputes. 5.5 Costs Dispute resolution costs may be recovered from the other side. As a main rule, the court shall award costs to the winning party. If the case is not lost or won by any of the parties, the court may decide that each party shall cover its own costs. This may typically hap- pen in cases with several claims. In the award, the court shall decide the size of the awarded amount, on the basis of what has been necessary or reason- able for preparing and litigating the case. A party may also request the court to rule on what is a reasonable amount for the services rendered by that party’s own attorney. This aligns with an increased focus on pro- cedural efficiency. 5.6 Assessment of Costs When awarding costs, the court looks upon what is considered to be reasonable and necessary costs in the individual case, based on the extent of the matter and the involved interests. There are no fixed stand- ards, hence the field is quite open.
in Norway, and generally take a proactive and positive approach to mediation. As a result, it is assumed that around 70% of cases referred to court-led mediation are settled.
5. Costs, Fees and Funding 5.1 Legal Fees
Legal fees must be agreed between the legal counsel and the client. Over recent years, the amount charged per hour by the attorney has been increasing. In court cases, the allocation of legal costs is regu- lated by the Dispute Act. The court may award costs to the winning party (fully or in part) or decide that each party shall cover its own costs. The latter is typi- cally where the court has been in doubt, or where the case is neither won nor lost by any of the parties. In the award, the court decides the size of the awarded amount on the basis of what has been necessary or reasonable for preparing and litigating the case. A party may also request the court to rule on what is a reasonable amount for the services rendered by the party’s own attorney. 5.2 Third-Party Funding Third-party funding is available from some large funders in the market, but is not very commonly applied. Such funding will be limited to large cases with large economic claims, or when the plaintiff lacks the necessary funds. It should be noted that the remuneration agreed between the funder and the party, whether it is based on a multiple of the involved claim or otherwise, may not be claimed against the counterparty as a cost in the cost submission. 5.3 Contingency Fee Arrangement According to the Norwegian Bar Association’s code of conduct, attorneys are not permitted to receive a cut or a certain percentage of the economic result in a dis- pute, as this contradicts the attorney’s independence of the outcome. Arrangements based on “no cure, no pay” or “if good cure, then good pay” are possible, but are not very common.
6. Interim Remedies 6.1 Availability of Interim Relief
Under Norwegian law, there are two forms of interim relief: the courts may order either an arrest of goods or an interim injunction to secure a claim. Arrest is used to secure monetary claims, whilst interim injunc- tion is used for non-monetary claims – for example, to prevent the publication of a book or to interrupt an ongoing and assertedly damaging activity.
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