ROMANIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Carina Vermeșan and Vincențiu Constantin, Andronic and Partners
5. Costs, Fees and Funding 5.1 Legal Fees
5.5 Costs As a general rule, the losing party is obliged to reim- burse the winning party’s reasonable and duly proven costs. However, the court may assess and adjust the amount of the requested costs. Recoverable costs may include court, expert and legal fees, subject to the court’s discretion and assessment. 5.6 Assessment of Costs When awarding costs, courts take into account the outcome of the case, the conduct of the parties and the complexity of the dispute. Courts retain discretion to reduce legal fees where these are considered disproportionate to the value or nature of the case. 6. Interim Remedies 6.1 Availability of Interim Relief The key types of interim relief available from Romanian courts include: • distraint on property; • conservatory garnishment of receivables (including bank accounts); • precautionary garnishment; • injunctions; • urgent finding of facts by a judicial bailiff; • ship and port-related interim measures; and • interim measures in support of arbitration. 6.2 Interim Relief to Support Arbitration and ADR The Civil Code provides that, before or during arbitral proceedings, parties may request the arbitral tribunal to grant conservatory and provisional measures, while once the tribunal is constituted, it may also grant such measures within its competence. Arbitral measures are enforced by a bailiff. If enforcement is challenged, the matter must be referred to a court for a decision. • IP-specific provisional measures; • evidence preservation measures;
Legal fees in Romania are primarily determined by agreement between lawyer and client and are not subject to fixed statutory tariffs. Fees are typically structured as hourly rates, fixed fees or a combination of both. In practice, fee arrange- ments reflect the complexity of the matter, the value of the dispute and the seniority of the lawyers involved. Professional rules require fees to be reasonable and proportionate. In addition, the National Union of Romanian Bars has issued recommendations on minimum fee lev- els which, although not legally binding, are used in practice as a reference point, including in assessing recoverable legal costs. 5.2 Third-Party Funding Third-party funding is not expressly regulated under Romanian law but is generally considered permissible. Its use remains limited in practice and is more com- monly encountered in high-value disputes, particularly in international arbitration or complex commercial liti- gation. 5.3 Contingency Fee Arrangement Pure contingency fee arrangements – where a law- yer’s payment is based solely on the case outcome – are not permitted. However, mixed fee arrangements combining a fixed fee with a success fee are permit- ted, provided they comply with relevant professional regulations. 5.4 Insurance Insurance covering dispute-related risks, including legal expenses insurance, is available under Romani- an law but is not widely used in commercial disputes. In practice, such insurance is more commonly encoun- tered in specific sectors or in relation to individuals rather than corporate matters.
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