Short version: on October 20, 2026, the Constitutional Court allowed a lawyer to be paid in a way other than cash. A client may assign to the representative the right to recover court costs from the losing opponent, and the court treats those costs as incurred. For a client with a strong position but no money for a lawyer, this makes it possible to start a dispute. For a lawyer, it offers a way to be paid and adds risk.
The main points of this article:
- payment is made by assigning the right to reimbursement of court costs, and the client’s own money is not needed for it;
- as a general rule, the client’s debt to the lawyer is extinguished, even if the case is lost;
- the court will award no more than a reasonable amount, and that is the lawyer’s main risk;
- a percentage “success fee” is, as a rule, not recoverable from the losing party;
- the market will probably get more “no advance payment” offers, but for cases with a strong position.
The rules and case law are given as of October 24, 2026.
What Did the Constitutional Court Decide?
Ruling No. 60-P of October 20, 2026 was issued on the complaint of an advocate from the Belgorod Region.
The facts of the case:
- in 2020, the advocate concluded an agreement with a client for services to recover property;
- later the client assigned to her the right to reimbursement of court costs from the opponent, in payment of her fee;
- the court granted most of the client’s claims (93 percent, as the courts assessed it);
- the advocate asked for 451,129.32 rubles, and the courts awarded 23,018 rubles for expert examinations and her travel costs, refusing to pay for her services: the client had not paid her in cash, so he had incurred no costs.
What the Constitutional Court said (operative part):
- Part 1 of Art. 98 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CCP) does not contradict the Constitution if understood this way: the costs of a representative are treated as incurred by the party in whose favor the decision was made when that party assigned to the representative the right to reimbursement in payment of the fee;
- the assignment does not cancel the conditions for reimbursement, in particular that costs are awarded only within reasonable limits;
- this meaning of the norm is binding on everyone, and courts may not apply any other interpretation;
- the advocate’s case is subject to review, and the ruling takes effect on the day of its official publication (it was published on the pravo.gov.ru portal on October 21, 2026).
The Court explained it this way: the assignment is not gratuitous, since the counter-performance is the lawyer’s services and the client’s release from paying for them.
The losing opponent is no worse off: the costs are recovered from him in any case, and it does not matter to him who the creditor is.
How Does It Work in Practice?
The procedure is as follows:
- The client and the lawyer sign an agreement for services and a contract assigning the right to reimbursement of court costs in a specific case.
- The court decides in the client’s favor.
- The lawyer asks the court to replace the client in respect of that right (Art. 44 CCP) and to award the costs from the opponent on a written motion (Art. 100 CCP). This is how the applicant acted in her case.
- The application for court costs is filed within three months of the day the last judicial act in the case takes effect (Art. 103.1 CCP).
Example (the figures are conditional). The services cost 150,000 rubles, and the court awarded 100,000 as reimbursement. The client paid nothing, and the lawyer received 100,000 from the opponent. The lawyer lost the difference of 50,000 unless the agreement says otherwise.
The possibility of assigning the right to reimbursement of costs, both while the case is pending and after the decision, was already allowed by the Supreme Court in Plenum Resolution No. 1 of January 21, 2016 (para. 9).
The Constitutional Court has now fixed that the assignment alone makes the costs incurred.
What Does the Client Gain?
- No money is needed at the start, and there is no waiting for the opponent to pay: the lawyer can begin work with no advance payment.
- The risk is on the lawyer. According to the text of the ruling, if the case is lost, the payment obligation is treated as extinguished unless the assignment agreement says otherwise.
What Does the Lawyer Gain?
- A clear rule. Some courts refused lawyers, as in the applicant’s case, and now the meaning of the norm is binding on everyone.
- A new way to attract a client with a good case and no money.
- A chance to be paid directly by the client’s opponent.
What Are the Downsides and Risks of the Scheme?
For both sides:
- Reasonable limits. The court may reduce the amount if it is clearly excessive (Art. 100 CCP, para. 11 of Supreme Court Plenum Resolution No. 1).
- The “success fee”. Courts, as a rule, do not charge to the losing party a fee set as a percentage of what is won if they treat it as a bonus for the result. For example, in ruling No. 305-ES22-10035 of November 17, 2022 in an arbitration case, the Supreme Court refused to recover 174,836 of 245,836 rubles. It treated the extra fee of 10 percent of the sum not recovered from the client as a bonus for the result. The Constitutional Court noted that such practice casts doubt on the admissibility of the assignment in the corresponding part.
- Good faith. If the lawyer or the client drags out the process, the court may refuse to treat the costs as necessary (Art. 35(1) CCP, para. 32 of Plenum Resolution No. 1).
- You cannot transfer more rights than you have. The lawyer receives the client’s right with the same conditions and limits the client had.
- Only the lawyer’s pay. The assignment covers the lawyer’s fee. The state fee, expert examinations and other costs of the case stay with the client unless agreed otherwise with the lawyer.
For the client: the client answers to the lawyer for the validity of the assigned claim (Art. 390 of the Civil Code). The part of the fee not covered by the awarded amount depends on the agreement.
For the lawyer: the uncertainty stays with the lawyer, and if the opponent cannot pay, recovering the costs is hard.
Advocates should take three more things into account:
- Payment “by result” is not always allowed. Such a condition is permitted under the rules of the Federal Chamber of Advocates, but not in criminal cases or cases of administrative offenses (Art. 25(4.1) of Advocates Law No. 63-FZ).
- The fee of an advocate is paid into the cash desk or the account of the advocate formation, that is, the bar association or bureau where he or she works (Art. 25(6)).
- It is unclear how this fits with an assignment of the right to the advocate personally. The ruling does not mention advocate formations, and we checked this against the official text. We found no clarification from the Federal Chamber of Advocates on 60-P as of October 24, 2026, so it is better to clarify the procedure in advance with your own bar chamber.
Taxes. We found no letters from the Ministry of Finance or the tax service about this scheme, and no commentary on it, as of October 24, 2026: the ruling is four days old. The tax consequences should be assessed with an accountant for the specific scheme.
What to Expect Next?
- Review of the applicant’s case. The outcome is not yet known.
- Arbitration and administrative cases. The Constitutional Court named similar norms (Art. 110(1) of the Arbitration Procedure Code, Art. 111(1) of the Administrative Procedure Code), but the ruling was made on the CCP. Arbitration courts already used this approach, and it is mentioned in the text of the ruling.
- Disputes about the amount. Courts will check whether the sum is reasonable, and the main fight will happen here.
- Changes in the law. The Constitutional Court said the legislator may refine the rules on reimbursement when a lawyer is paid by an assignment of the right. Until the law is changed, the meaning set by the Court applies, and courts must follow it.
Past and pending cases. What Art. 79 of the Federal Constitutional Law on the Constitutional Court says:
- courts must apply this meaning of the norm also in cases where lower courts have already ruled;
- if the decision has not yet taken effect, for example the case is on appeal, a decision based on a different interpretation is subject to review (Art. 79(3), item 2);
- if the refusal has already taken effect, review for other people is possible when the Court expressly said so (Art. 79(3), item 7);
- 60-P contains no such statement, and review is named only for the applicant.
We did not look for practice applying these rules to 60-P. The deadline for a court-costs application is short, three months (Art. 103.1 CCP).
How Will It Affect the Legal Services Market?
Below is our forecast; we have no market data:
- More “no advance payment” offers. Lawyers will be able to take on cases of clients without money.
- Choosing cases will become stricter. Weak cases and cases against opponents who cannot pay will stay on ordinary cash payment.
- The cost of misjudging a case will rise. The lawyer risks his or her own time, so a quality check of the evidence will become part of the product.
- The conversation about price will change. A client will compare not only the size of the fee but also who bears the risk.
- Distortions may appear. If the scheme becomes widespread, courts, in our view, will start cutting the sums everywhere with no reasons given. They will also look more closely at the size of the assigned claims.
What to Do if You Need a Lawyer but Have No Money to Pay?
- Describe the case and the evidence: the scheme suits only cases with a strong position.
- Ask the lawyer whether he or she agrees to be paid by an assignment of the right to court costs.
- Check the agreement: what exactly is assigned, what happens on partial success and on a loss, who answers for the validity of the claim.
- Agree on the deadlines: the application for costs is filed within three months after the last judicial act.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you hire a lawyer with no payment at all? The ruling is not about that. It contains payment, but not in cash: the lawyer receives the right to recover the costs from the losing opponent. If the court awards less than the cost of the services, the lawyer, as a general rule, loses the difference. Free legal aid under the law is arranged separately: the costs are recovered in favor of the advocate formation (Art. 100(2) CCP).
What happens if the client loses the case? According to the text of the ruling, the client’s payment obligation is treated as extinguished unless the assignment agreement says otherwise. The risk of losing is then borne by the lawyer.
Can you pay a lawyer a percentage of what is won and recover it from the opponent? As a rule, no: the practice assumes that such a “success fee” is not tied to additional actions by the lawyer and is not charged to the losing party. The Constitutional Court named this problem for the assignment too.
Does the ruling cover arbitration and administrative cases? The ruling was made on Art. 98(1) CCP. Similar norms exist in the Arbitration Procedure Code (Art. 110(1)) and the Administrative Procedure Code (Art. 111(1)), and arbitration courts used this approach before.
How to recover court costs from the losing party? File a written motion for the court to award the costs of the representative within reasonable limits (Art. 100 CCP), within three months after the last judicial act (Art. 103.1). If the claim is satisfied in part, the costs are distributed proportionally (Art. 98(1)).
What about those whom a court earlier refused costs? It depends on the stage of the case. If the question of costs has not been finally decided, for example the case is on appeal, the court must apply the new meaning of the norm. If the refusal has already taken effect, review is not provided without the Court’s instruction (Art. 79 of the Law on the Constitutional Court): 60-P names review only for the applicant. If the application for costs has not yet been filed, it must be filed within three months after the last judicial act in the case (Art. 103.1 CCP). A deadline missed for a good reason may be restored by the court. Each case should be checked separately.
Read Also
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- How to Recover a Debt With No Promissory Note if the Debtor Stops Responding: how to collect evidence for a claim
Looking for a lawyer for a dispute, but paying in cash is hard right now? Write to us: we will assess your position and the risks around court costs. We consider payment by an assignment of the right to court costs by agreement, in certain cases.