EXPENSES or COSTS OF A LAWSUIT. The arrangements adopted in England with reference to charges exigible from the parties to lawsuits are stated under COSTS. In Scotland, these charges are commonly spoken of as expenses, and in the present article we shall, consequently, confine ourselves to the Scottish practice. In addition to demanding payment of the sum claimed, or performance of the alleged obligation where it has no reference to a pecuniary transaction, the pursuer of an action at law in Scotland almost always asks the court to pronounce decree in his favor for the expense of the proceedings which he has found it, or may find it, necessary to institute. On the other hand, the defender usually demands the expense attending his defense; and the general rule is, that the party found ultimately to be in the wrong has decree pro nounced against him for the expense which he has occasioned to his opponent, as well as for the subject-matter of the suit. As it is quite usual for a party to succeed in one branch of his action, and to fail in another; or to occasion unnecessary expense by the unskillful or careless mode in which he conducts some portion of it, even though on the whole be be in the right; the adjustment of the amounts incurred by the parties respect ively often involves not only much nicety of calculation, but questions of very con siderable legal difficulty. In so far as the adjustment of expenses is a matter of calcu lation, it is effected by the auditor of the court of session, or of the interior courts. .See AUDITOR and SHERIFF. In so far as it involves questions of law, these, if not pre viously decided by the judge, must be carried back to him from the auditor. If either party means to object to the amount awarded to him by the auditor in his report, he must lodge with the clerk of the process a short note of his objections without argu ment. A copy of this note must be furnished to the agent for the opposite party, and
the court, or the lord ordinary, before whom the action depended, may direct the objec tions to be answered either viva roes or in writing. Should the objector fail to make good his objection; the expense of discussing it will be laid on him. If the objection has been stated to the auditor, and lie has reported it to the court, it does not follow that the expense of discussing it will be laid wholly on the objector, even if unsuccessful. Where an appeal to the house of lords has been actually presented, and service of an order thereon has taken place, a motion for expenses is incompetent, but a mere intima tion of an appeal is not enough to prevent decree for expenses being pronounced. If the agent who has conducted the cause wish it, the decree for expenses will be pro nounced in his favor and the party found liable will not be allowed to plead a counter claim against the client, as by that means he might prevent the agent from recovering what he very probably has disbursed. The taxation of expenses is said to he between party and party, and not between agent and client; that is to say, the losing party has to pay only the expenses which have been necessarily incurred in discussing the ques tion between the parties judicially, not the unnecessary expenses which the over-anxiety of the successful party may have led him to incur to his own agent. Practically, there are very few cases in which the expenses recovered do cover all the bona fide claims of the agent against his client, which is the chief reason why litigation is always attended with expense, even to the winning party.