An Overview of the Law of Attorney Fees in the United States: The American Rule is not so Simple After All

Authors

Thomas Allan Heller
University of Maribor, Faculty of Law

Synopsis

It often is said that in the United States each party pays their own attorney’s fees, win or lose, absent a contractual provision to the contrary or some recognized ground in equity. This basic proposition, which is true as far as it goes, is based on the so-called American Rule, which provides that in the United States each side in a litigated case is responsible for paying their own attorney, regardless of the outcome of the case. On its face this proposition seems simple. On the contrary, however, the laws in the United States governing attorney’s fees are surprising quite complex. This article provides a general survey of the patchwork of laws, federal and to a lesser extent state, and the author will demonstrate that rules and laws governing attorney’s fees are often grounded in important public policy and fundamentally shape important issues, such as access to the courts and the legal system more generally. Unfortunately, many United States citizens have been priced out of the legal market under the current system.

Author Biography

Thomas Allan Heller, University of Maribor, Faculty of Law

Thomas Allan Heller is an American legal expert who earned his legal education at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (Michigan, 1976) and obtained his J.D. from Wayne Law School in Detroit (Michigan, 1979). He successfully passed the Michigan State Bar Exam in 1981 and the Washington State Bar Exam in 1984. His professional career includes work both in the judiciary and in private legal practice. In 2017, he moved with his family to Maribor, where he established strong and successful ties with the Faculty of Law at the University of Maribor (PF UM). Through his collaboration with the faculty, Thomas Allan Heller made a significant contribution to the dissemination of knowledge about the American legal system in Slovenia. His involvement particularly enriched the teaching process at PF UM, offering students valuable insights into comparative and U.S. law. Thomas Allan Heller is also a key initiator of the now flourishing partnership between Wayne State University and PF UM. His academic work includes a range of scholarly articles published in respected Slovenian journals such as Lexonomica, Medicine, Law & Society, and Pravnik, further solidifying his role in fostering legal scholarship and international academic cooperation.

Maribor, Slovenia. E-mail: heller6651@msn.com

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Volume

Collected Papers of Thomas A. Heller

Pages

13-36

Published

July 14, 2025

Categories

Copyright (c) 2025 University of Maribor, University Press

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Heller, T. A. (2025). An Overview of the Law of Attorney Fees in the United States: The American Rule is not so Simple After All. In S. Kraljić (Ed.), Collected Papers of Thomas A. Heller (pp. 13-36). University of Maribor Press. https://press.um.si/index.php/ump/catalog/book/977/chapter/733