If you win a lawsuit that's filed against you, why should you have to pay huge legal bills when you did nothing wrong while the person who filed the suit pays no penalty for wrongly accusing you?
This has no easy one-size-fits-all answer. It is a state-specific matter. I imagine an internet search will find your answer for you. Also, when you think about civil suits, remember that many times defendants lose the case but didn't do anything "intentionally wrong." Our justice systems affords relief when a party has damages due to another's breach of a duty owed or in some cases makes a mistake or acts accidentally. Lawsuits determine liability, not guilt. In most states, the liability may be split between parties if the court determines both parties have some responsibility for the harm done.
This post was edited by Thriftymaid at July 16, 2021 1:28 PM MDT
In civil cases, most states allow the winning side to recoup their legal costs from the losing side.
That is one reason to be wary about joining any "class action" lawsuit. If the defendant wins, they can come after every single member of the other side to recoup their costs. And they don't have to split the cost equally among all members. So one person could wind up being forced to pay the full cost.
