Legal Definitions - extra allowance

An extra allowance, in New York legal practice, refers to an additional sum of money that a court may choose to award to the party who wins a lawsuit. This amount is granted in addition to the standard legal costs (like filing fees or certain witness expenses) that the winning party might already recover. It is specifically reserved for cases that the court deems to be unusually difficult or complex, requiring exceptional effort or resources from the winning side. The decision to grant an extra allowance is entirely at the judge's discretion.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Imagine a lawsuit where a small tech company successfully sues a large corporation for patent infringement. The case involved highly technical evidence, multiple expert witnesses testifying on complex software algorithms, and extensive discovery of proprietary code. The litigation spanned several years and required the small company's legal team to invest significant time and resources in understanding and presenting intricate technological details.

  How it illustrates the term: Here, the court might grant an extra allowance to the small tech company because the patent infringement case was "unusually difficult." The complexity of the technology, the need for specialized experts, and the prolonged legal battle would justify the judge's discretion to award additional funds beyond standard costs, recognizing the extraordinary effort required to win.

• Consider a class-action lawsuit brought by thousands of residents against a chemical plant for severe environmental contamination. Proving causation and quantifying damages for such a large group involved extensive scientific studies, epidemiological data analysis, and the testimony of numerous medical and environmental experts. The legal team representing the residents had to manage a vast amount of evidence and coordinate the claims of many individuals over several years.

  How it illustrates the term: If the residents' legal team prevails, the court could award an extra allowance. The sheer scale of the class action, the scientific complexity of proving environmental harm, and the extensive resources needed to manage thousands of plaintiffs and their claims would qualify it as an "unusually difficult case," warranting additional compensation for the successful party's extraordinary efforts.