If I am the winning party will I obtain a full legal cost refund from the Judge?

No, although this may seem disappointing, Italian law sets specific parameters for Judges when ruling on legal costs. The Judges’ decision based on set guidelines will not take into consideration real accrued legal costs paid by each party. Being the winning party does not imply obtaining a full cost refund from the other party. Moreover, even in cases when the judge has decided for a cost refund there will be no correspondence between the amount you actually paid your lawyer during the trial and the cost refund granted by the Judge. Over many years of experience, we can state that the refund can be approximately 1/3 of actual accrued legal costs.