Last reviewed 17 October 2026 · Demetre E. Katsouris, Managing Partner
In a nutshell. Katsouris Law Firm conducts civil and administrative litigation before the Greek courts at every instance — the courts of first instance and appeal, the Supreme Civil and Criminal Court and the Council of State — in the matters the firm has practised since 1985: real property, co-ownership, construction, leases, inheritance, the recognition and enforcement of judgments, disputes with the State over permits, forest maps and expropriation, and citizenship and residence decisions. Where a dispute can be resolved without a hearing, by negotiation, mediation or arbitration, that is where it is first taken.
What does the litigation practice cover?
The practice is organised around the disputes that arise from the firm’s advisory work, so that the lawyer who conducts the case understands the transaction or the family history behind it. The pages in this group describe each in turn:
- Real-estate litigation: ownership and title actions, adverse possession, boundaries and encroachment, easements, breach of preliminary agreements, the court route for inaccurate cadastre registrations.
- Co-ownership disputes and judicial partition: when co-owners cannot agree on use, sale or division.
- Construction disputes: defects, delay, antiparochi default, contractor insolvency, engineer liability, injunctions.
- Landlord and tenant disputes: orders for payment and eviction, damage and deposit claims, short-term-rental disputes.
- Inheritance litigation: protected-share claims, nullity of wills, the inheritance petition, executor and certificate disputes.
- Foreign judgments and arbitral awards: recognition and enforcement in Greece; service of process.
- Administrative litigation: permits, demolition and fine protocols, forest maps, expropriation, archaeological and coastal restrictions, cadastre claims by the State.
- Citizenship and immigration litigation: refusals, revocations, delays and entry bans.
- Debt recovery and enforcement: payment orders, enforcement against property, objections, auctions.
- Mediation, arbitration and settlement.
- Conducting a Greek case from abroad: representation by power of attorney, evidence from a distance, the process agent.
How does a civil case proceed in Greece?
Most property, co-ownership and inheritance claims are heard under the ordinary procedure of the Code of Civil Procedure, which since the 2016 reform is predominantly written: the action is filed and served, the parties lodge their pleadings and all their evidence — documents, affidavits, expert reports — within 90 days of the end of the service period — 120 days where the action was served abroad — with 15 further days for rebuttal (Code of Civil Procedure art. 237, as amended by Law 5221/2025 for actions filed from 1 January 2026); the action itself must be served within 30 days of filing in every case, service abroad being made on the public prosecutor within the same period (art. 215), and the court decides on the file, calling witnesses only where it considers it necessary. The special procedures — for leases, for payment orders, for interim measures — are faster and oral. Judgments of the first instance are open to appeal on fact and law, and to a further appeal to the Supreme Court on points of law only. Interim relief is available throughout where a right is at imminent risk.
Two features surprise clients from other systems. First, for many civil disputes a mandatory initial mediation session must take place before the court will hear the case (Law 4640/2019 art. 6: family disputes, with exceptions; disputes under the ordinary procedure within the jurisdiction of the single-member court above €30,000 and all those within the jurisdiction of the multi-member court; and disputes with a written mediation clause); the session is short, confidential and often productive. Second, the parties do not attend court in person in the ordinary procedure; they are represented by their lawyers, and a client abroad is represented under a power of attorney without travelling.
What does a Greek case cost, and how long does it take?
Costs comprise the court stamp on monetary claims, bailiff and registry fees, the fee of any court-appointed expert, and the lawyer’s fee, which is agreed in writing at the outset. The unsuccessful party is ordered to pay a contribution to the other’s costs, which rarely covers them in full. In practice a contested first-instance judgment in Athens takes between one and two years from filing, and an appeal a further year or more; interim measures are heard within weeks, and payment orders are issued within days of filing. These are the reasons the firm examines settlement before and during every case.
Why does the advisory work matter to the litigation?
A dispute over a plot, a will or a building contract is decided on documents: the deed and cadastre record, the engineer’s certificates, the notarial file of the will, the stage certificates of the works. The firm’s property, inheritance and construction pages describe how those documents are created; this group describes how they are deployed when agreement fails. Each litigation page links to its substantive counterpart, and each counterpart carries the line Read our litigation chapter.
Services in this group
Frequently asked questions
Must I come to Greece for my case? Not for the ordinary civil procedure, which is conducted in writing by your lawyer under power of attorney; attendance may be required where the court orders your examination, and is advisable at a mediation session, which may also be held remotely.
Is mediation compulsory? For a defined range of civil disputes the law requires an initial mediation session before the hearing (Law 4640/2019 art. 6); the parties are free to leave it after the first session, and nothing said there may be used in court.
Can a judgment from my own country be used in Greece? Yes, after recognition — automatic for EU judgments, by court application for others.
How do I challenge a decision of a Greek ministry or municipality? By an application for annulment before the administrative courts within the statutory period, which is short.
Related Insights
- Co-owned family property: how to divide or sell it
- Greece’s new inheritance law (Law 5303/2026)
- Correcting an error at the Hellenic Cadastre
- Legal foresight in construction
info@katslaw.eu · +30 210 898 2864 · WhatsApp +30 693 3333 144
This page is general information and does not constitute legal advice. It reflects the law as at the date shown and may change.
