What It Costs to File a Case

Opening a civil case costs a filing fee paid to the clerk, plus the separate cost of getting the papers into the other side's hands. Everything else arrives later, and in most cases the later items add up to more than the first payment. The filing fee is fixed by statute or by a published schedule; the rest depends on choices made as the case moves.

Court fees are set three ways. Some are written into a statute. Some come from a schedule the court system publishes and updates. Some are local, added by a county or a single courthouse for a specific service. A clerk applies whichever schedule governs and has no power to discount it, which is why arguing about the amount at the window never works.

The fee to open the case

In federal district court the civil filing fee sits in 28 U.S.C. 1914, and an administrative fee is added on top under the district court miscellaneous fee schedule. The two are collected together, so the number quoted by the clerk is larger than the statutory figure alone. A habeas corpus petition is charged at a much lower statutory rate.

State trial courts usually tier the fee by the size of the claim. A small claims case costs the least. A limited civil case, capped at a threshold the state sets, costs more. A general or unlimited civil case costs the most. The tiers matter later too: amending a claim upward can trigger a reclassification charge equal to the difference between the tiers.

Filing a response also costs money. In many states the defendant pays a first-appearance fee that is close to the plaintiff's filing fee. People are often caught by this, because nothing about being sued suggests that answering will require a payment. The fee is charged once per appearing party, not once per document, so a defendant who answers and then files a counterclaim usually pays only the single appearance fee.

Where the case is filed changes the number as well. A court system that funds itself partly through user charges will price a general civil filing above a neighboring state that funds courts from general revenue. Local surcharges layer on top: a county law library fee, an electronic filing vendor charge, or a security fee that appears only on the receipt. None of these are negotiable, and none appear in the statute that names the base fee.

Getting the papers served

Service is a separate purchase. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4 requires the summons and complaint to be served on each defendant and allows any person who is at least 18 years old and not a party to do it. That person is normally a sheriff's deputy, a marshal, or a private process server, and each charges its own rate per defendant, per attempt.

Cost here is driven by difficulty, not by the size of the case. A defendant answering the door on the first visit is cheap. A defendant who works irregular hours, lives behind a locked gate, or has moved may take five attempts and a skip trace. Papers that cannot be delivered at all lead to a motion and a published notice, which is dearer again. The mechanics of each route are set out in serving papers and proving you did.

What a case costs tier by tier

The costs that arrive later

Motions carry fees in many state systems, charged per motion rather than per case. Jury trials require a deposit, sometimes payable well before trial and forfeited if the demand is withdrawn late. Certified copies are priced per document, and a record search is priced per name or item searched. Federal figures for all three appear on the district court miscellaneous fee schedule.

Discovery is where a modest case becomes an expensive one. A court reporter charges to attend a deposition and again for the written record, and those rates are covered in getting a transcript and what it costs. Compelling a witness to attend costs a witness fee and mileage tendered with the subpoena, described in making a witness or a document appear.

Some of this can be recovered. Federal courts may tax costs against the losing party under 28 U.S.C. 1920, which reaches clerk and marshal fees, transcripts necessarily obtained, printing, witness costs, copies, docket fees and interpreter compensation. States keep similar lists. Recovery is partial by design and comes at the end, so it does not solve a cash problem at the start.

Paying less, or paying later

Every state and the federal system allow a case to proceed without prepayment when the filer cannot afford the fee. In federal court the route is 28 U.S.C. 1915, which requires an affidavit listing assets and stating the nature of the claim. States use a request form, decided by a clerk or a judge, and grant a full waiver, a partial waiver, or nothing.

A waiver covers fees payable to the court. It does not cover a private process server, an expert, a lawyer, or the other side's costs if the case is lost. Some courts waive sheriff service as well; many do not. When a request is refused or only part is granted, the remaining balance can often be spread over time, which is the subject of paying court fees when a waiver is refused.

Court staff will tell anyone the amount of a fee, which form the schedule applies to, and how payment may be made. What they may not do is advise whether a case belongs in one tier rather than another, because that is a legal question. The line is drawn in what a court clerk may and may not tell you.