The court awarded to the Client of Onopenko and Partners about UAH 0.5 million as a compensation for professional legal services
Project Partner: Diana Vasylevych
Project team: Anastasiia Pekar, Oleksandr Taran, Veronika Koval
Onopenko & Partners successfully defend their Clients in court not alone but take care of their professional legal expenses being awarded to them.
It is one of the access to justice principles that professional legal expenses must be compensated, which also serves a barrier against unreasonable and unfounded claims.
For example, thanks to our attorneys’ efforts, one of the Clients has been compensated for a fair amount of money spent for professional legal services. Thus, the Commercial Court of Cassation within the Supreme Court ruled that about UAH 0.5 million must be compensated in favor of the Client of Onopenko & Partners.
In another case, the Commercial Court of Cassation with the Supreme Court upheld the arguments of the attorneys from Onopenko & Partners and formulated a legal position stating that an attorney’s involvement in a court hearing is not about mere presence only, but his or her preparation for the hearing as well, including time spent on the way to the court and back, waiting for and direct participation in such hearing. Visiting a court or another institution and waiting time are components of legal services which, coupled with the other types of legal services, contribute to the protection of the rights and interests of the Client. Therefore, the time an attorneys spends on the way to the court to participate in the hearing is part of legal service and should be compensated along with the other expenses.