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Attorney fees are a fundamental part of legal proceedings and an essential topic for anyone involved in litigation in Türkiye. Whether you are hiring a lawyer or are part of a court case, knowing how attorney fees and counter attorney fees work can help you avoid surprises and better manage your legal costs.
At Bayraktar Attorneys, we guide both local and foreign clients through the complex world of legal fees, ensuring full transparency and protecting your rights at every step.
Quick Answer: Turkish law recognises two distinct attorney fees. The contractual attorney fee, akdi vekalet ücreti, is agreed directly between lawyer and client, generally capped at 25 percent of the value of the case under the Attorneyship Law. The court awarded fee, commonly called the counter attorney fee, karşı vekalet ücreti, is ordered by the court against the losing party and calculated under the Turkish Bar Association's Minimum Attorneyship Fee Tariff, which is revised annually, most recently through the tariff published on 4 November 2025 for the 2025 to 2026 period. Because this tariff changes every year, including the size of its value brackets, figures cited from an earlier year should always be checked against the current published tariff before being relied upon.
Attorney fees are the compensation a lawyer receives in return for providing legal services. Under Türkiye's Attorneyship Law, Law No. 1136, there are two main types of attorney fees:
The counter attorney fee, karşı vekalet ücreti, is a court awarded legal cost in favour of the party who wins the case and has hired a lawyer. The losing party is ordered to pay this fee as part of the court's decision.
The counter attorney fee serves to partially compensate the winning party's legal expenses and applies only when that party was represented by a lawyer. If a party is self-represented, no counter attorney fee is awarded.
The fee can be:
The Turkish Bar Association Minimum Attorneyship Fee Tariff is updated annually and sets out the minimum fees for different types of cases. The tariff currently in force was published in the Official Gazette on 4 November 2025 and applies through the 2025 to 2026 period, and it introduced meaningfully larger value brackets than earlier versions of the tariff, alongside a newly added top bracket for very high value cases.
For monetary cases, the relative fee is calculated using a graduated bracket structure: the current tariff applies 16 percent to the first 400,000 Turkish Lira of the case value, 15 percent to the next 400,000 Turkish Lira, and 14 percent to the following bracket, with the percentage continuing to decrease at each subsequent, larger bracket, down to a newly introduced 5 percent rate applicable to the highest value bracket. Because these bracket thresholds and the exact number of tiers are revised each year, and because the calculation is applied cumulatively across each bracket a case value passes through rather than as a single flat percentage of the whole amount, the precise figure for a specific case value should always be confirmed against the currently published tariff rather than an older cited table.
For non-monetary cases, a fixed minimum fee applies, depending on the case type, for example a declaratory or tespit lawsuit, and the applicable court.
This annual revision mechanism exists specifically because litigation costs, and Türkiye's broader price levels, change meaningfully from year to year, and a fixed tariff left unchanged for several years would quickly become disconnected from the actual cost of legal representation. In practice, this means a fee estimate a client received even twelve months earlier, whether from a lawyer, a general article, or their own prior experience, may already understate what a comparable case would cost today, which is one of the more common sources of confusion for both first time litigants and returning clients comparing costs across different years.
These court costs sit alongside other litigation expenses, such as judicial fees and advance payments, that parties may need to budget for.
In debt collection cases, attorney fees are also calculated using the tariff, subject to a fixed minimum floor for enforcement proceedings under the current tariff. For example, if an enforcement case is filed for 100,000 Turkish Lira, since this falls within the tariff's first bracket, the counter attorney fee would be calculated at 16 percent, resulting in 16,000 Turkish Lira, an amount that comfortably exceeds the fixed minimum floor applicable to enforcement proceedings under the current tariff.
While contractual attorney fees are agreed upon between the lawyer and the client, and can be set up to 25 percent of the case value, counter attorney fees are court ordered and paid by the losing party to the winning party's lawyer.
Any agreement where the lawyer acquires a share in the client's property beyond this percentage is not permitted under Turkish law.
Even though the counter attorney fee is technically awarded in the court's decision alongside the winning party, under Article 164 of the Attorneyship Law it belongs to the lawyer directly, not to the client. However, there are important procedural rules:
A lawyer cannot waive the counter attorney fee without specific authorisation from the client to do so on the lawyer's behalf, or, more precisely, without the fee holder's own consent, since the fee is considered the lawyer's own statutory right even though it is recorded in the judgment alongside the client's name.
If the client does not pay the agreed contractual attorney fee, the lawyer generally has a right of retention over client funds or property that have come into the lawyer's possession in connection with the matter, meaning the lawyer can withhold them until the fee is paid, subject to the specific conditions and limits Turkish law places on this right.
Attorney fees protect the winning party from bearing the full financial burden of litigation and help ensure lawyers are fairly compensated for their services, while the annually revised tariff structure is intended to keep minimum fees broadly aligned with economic conditions over time.
For foreign clients unfamiliar with Turkish legal practice, understanding attorney fees is key to navigating disputes, lawsuits, or even pre-litigation negotiations, and to budgeting realistically for a matter's total cost rather than being surprised by a counter fee obligation if the case is lost. The same applies to other engagement costs, such as the cost of a power of attorney, which expatriates often encounter early in a case.
A practical habit worth adopting before any Turkish litigation begins is asking counsel for two separate figures rather than one: the contractual fee the client will owe regardless of outcome, and a realistic estimate of the counter attorney fee exposure if the case is lost, calculated against the current tariff for the specific case value and court involved. Having both figures in hand, rather than only the contractual fee, gives a foreign client a genuinely complete picture of the financial exposure a Turkish lawsuit carries before deciding whether to proceed.
The attorney fee, akdi vekalet ücreti, is agreed between lawyer and client. The counter attorney fee, karşı vekalet ücreti, is awarded by the court against the losing party.
Yes, within legal limits, including the 25 percent ceiling on the value of the case, you can negotiate a written fee agreement with your lawyer.
Yes, the court will order you to pay it if the other party had legal representation, calculated under the current Minimum Attorneyship Fee Tariff.
Yes, if unpaid voluntarily, it can be pursued through standard enforcement proceedings.
No, only one counter attorney fee applies in total, regardless of how many lawyers represented the winning party.
Yes. The Minimum Attorneyship Fee Tariff is revised annually, and recent revisions have included meaningfully larger value brackets and an additional bracket at the top end for very high value cases, so figures should always be checked against the currently published tariff.
Under Article 164 of the Attorneyship Law, it belongs to the lawyer directly, even though it is awarded in the judgment alongside the winning party.
If dismissed for the same reason, only one counter attorney fee is awarded across all defendants; if dismissed for different reasons specific to each, separate fees can apply.
Yes, the current tariff sets a fixed minimum floor for enforcement proceedings, though for most case values above a modest threshold the relative percentage calculation will exceed this floor in any event.
Generally yes, through the lawyer's right of retention over funds or property that came into their possession in connection with the matter, subject to the specific conditions Turkish law places on this right.
No. The counter attorney fee applies only where the winning party was actually represented by a lawyer.
The Turkish Bar Association publishes the current Minimum Attorneyship Fee Tariff in the Official Gazette each year, and a lawyer can confirm the precise figures applicable to your specific case type and value.
The tariff is revised annually to keep pace with changing litigation costs and broader price levels, and the most recent revision widened the value brackets meaningfully and added a new top bracket for very high value cases compared to earlier versions.
Yes. Asking for both the contractual fee you will owe regardless of outcome, and a realistic counter attorney fee estimate if the case is lost, gives a complete picture of your financial exposure before you decide whether to proceed.
At Bayraktar Attorneys, we provide clear advice on all legal fee matters, grounded in the currently applicable tariff rather than outdated figures. Whether you are drafting a fee agreement, facing a dispute, or simply need an explanation of your obligations and rights, we are here to help.
Contact us today for a consultation and get expert legal support on your case.
