In the last five or so years, the costs of civil litigation and their allocation between the parties have become a major topic of discussion in many jurisdictions. Several countries have enacted new legislation liberalizing the market for legal services; international tribunals such as the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights have struggled with issues of access to justice; experts have been tasked with the writing of Reports on civil litigation costs to guide further reform; and scholars have published books and papers. Almost suddenly, it seems, lawmakers, legal practitioners, and academics have come to realize that few, if any, factors shape civil litigation as strongly and pervasively as who pays for what and how much. This volume presents a thoroughly comparative approach to the topic. It contains a broad study on “Cost and Fee Allocation in Civil Procedure” drawing on data from almost 40 jurisdictions in six continents. This study is based on the General Report commissioned by the International Academy of Comparative Law and written for the XVIIIth World Congress of Comparative Law in Washington, DC, in the summer of 2010. The volume also presents 25 chapters on cost and fee allocation in particular systems around the globe, covering civil law, common law, and variously mixed jurisdictions in Europe, North and Latin America, Asia, and Australia. These chapters are derived from the National Reports presented at the XVIIIth World Congress but they were written specifically for inclusion in this book and with a view to highlighting the particular characteristics of the respective systems. Some National Reporters chose not to participate in this endeavor; all National Reports are accessible under http://www-personal.umich.edu/~ purzel/national_reports/.