When reading about news of multiple lawsuits filed by lameduck president Trump, those not familiar with lawsuits might think that litigation costs come cheap. On the contrary, filing a lawsuit from the very start costs money, especially if the complaint is civil in nature. Mainly because the plaintiff or the complainant has to pay the filing fee prescribed by the court.
Other court fees may be required if the lawsuit includes a request for garnishment, or other writs requested from the court, as deemed necessary by the attorney handling the case.
On top of the court fees, a plaintiff has to pay his or her legal representative the agreed attorney fees, deposition fees, copy fees and other fees that arise in relation to obtaining records from government, medical, school and/or other similar /institutions. In civil cases related to accident settlement claims, litigation costs would include accident reconstruction fees.
In most cases, the estimated cost of pursuing a lawsuit must be known beforehand. Even if a settlement lawsuit has a likely potential of being awarded the sum of money being claimed, it would all be a waste of time and money if the litigation costs exceeded the settlement amount.
Trump Team’s Solicitation of Donations to Fund Multiple Lawsuits Across Different States
While Trump’s lawsuits are largely political and have seen many court rejections, he is not paying for the litigation costs out of his own pocket. As soon as the November 03 election results started showing numbers trending toward a Joe Biden win, Trump’s campaign team started sending emails soliciting donations, allegedly to fund lawsuits that will seek to overturn the fina election results.
However, the emails came with a disclosure in fine print stating that 60% of each dollar donated will be used to pay off unpaid election campaign obligations.
Nonetheless, there are loyal Trump supporters, including big-value donors who contributed to the cause despite the remote possibility that the lawsuits will garner favorable court rulings. So far, reports have it that of the 36 lawsuits filed in different courts, 26 were rejected, including an appeal turned down by the Pennsylvania Appeals Court.
Trump Legal Team Drops Lawsuit, Big-Money Donor Seeks Refund
Just recently, a donor is seeking a refund of the $2,5 million he contributed to the Houston-based Trump team called “True The Vote.” This was after learning that the group has dropped all lawsuits seeking to get legal court rulings that will declare the election proceedings as fraudulent.
The donor, Fred Eshelman, a businessman whose investment company Eshelman Ventures LLC primarily invests in private health-care companies, has actually filed his own lawsuit against “True The Vote” in order to seek refund of the huge sum he donated.
It would be interesting to find out how a federal court will rule on Mr. Eshelman’s claim for refund since the money was supposed to have been given as a form of donation. It’s not as if he gave them as a lawsuit loan to fund a settlement lawsuit the way pre settlement funding companies do.
Even if it was a form of investment, it was obviously an unwise investment decision on his part, as he should have been aware that the election lawsuits lacked merit. Federal judges did not allow the cases to prosper in court as not a single evidence could be presented as proof that there was fraud.