It should be noted that atleast in Germany, you can't just run up the lawyer bills. There are standard rates and you only pay "necessary costs". That means one lawyer. At standard rate. And only for what they did in the court room. That means what you pay the other side in legal costs is usually less than what you paid your lawyer. Though you pay other fees too and in total IIRC it usually amounts to about 150-200% of what you paid your lawyer after everything is said and done. If you are low income, the state can pay both lawyer fees, in fact, you can always request the state pay your lawyer, that's how we run the right to a lawyer to defend yourself (the state does not assign you one, you have to get one yourself).

This is entirely done so that the costs of a court case don't ruin someone's life forever. IIRC if you are low income, running a lengthy court proceeding won't be more expensive than a single lawyer in terms of the legal costs the court has you carry if you end up loosing. And even that depends because it's somewhat in the court to decide that, because we don't want to make people feel like they shouldn't sue for legitimate reasons.