Employment Fees

Our fees for bringing and defending claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal in the Employment Tribunal in England and Wales can vary from anywhere between £4,000 to £60,000 or more (excluding VAT and disbursements) depending upon the complexity of the claim. The starting point of £4,000 (excluding VAT and disbursements) will typically be for a claim that involves 1 or 2 witnesses on each side, has only 1 or 2 simple issues, will take between 1 to 2 days to be heard in the Employment Tribunal, and where there is not a vast amount of evidence. Anything more complicated is likely to cost more. Our fees will also depend upon the point at which we are instructed to act.

As an example, a simple case could £4,000-£6,000 (excluding VAT and disbursements)

Medium complexity case: £6,000-£15,000 (excluding VAT and disbursements)

High complexity case: £15,000-£60,000 or more (excluding VAT and disbursements)

Factors that could make a case more complex:

• Where there are preliminary issues (for example, whether the claim is out of time, etc)

• Where the other party is a litigant in person

• If it is necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim

• Making or defending a costs application

• The number of witnesses and the amount of documents

• If it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim e.g. if you are dismissed after blowing the whistle on your employer

• Allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal

• The number of days that the Employment Tribunal hearing will take

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees or a barrister’s fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

Our firm has a team of Solicitor-Advocates who can represent you at any hearing in the Employment Tribunal. However, should you choose to instruct a barrister instead then the barristers fees will be in addition to our fees. A barrister’s fees for attending a hearing in the Employment Tribunal are estimated to be between £1,000 to £10,000 per day (depending on the experience of the advocate and the type of hearing).

Key stages

The fees set out above cover all of the work in relation to the following key stages of a claim:

• Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on merits and likely compensation (this is likely to be revisited throughout the matter and subject to change)

• Entering into pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached;

• Preparing a claim or response

• Reviewing and advising on a claim or response from other party

• Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process

• Preparing or considering a schedule of loss

• Preparing for (and attending) a Preliminary Hearing

• Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents

• Taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses

• Preparing a bundle of documents

• Reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements

• Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or a cast list

• Preparation and attendance at the Final Hearing, including instructions to Counsel

The stages set out above are an indication and if some of stages above are not required, the fee will be reduced. You may wish to handle the claim yourself and only have our advice in relation to some of the stages, or maybe even instruct us midway through the proceedings or at a later stage. This can also be arranged on your individual needs and our fees are likely to be reduced.

Our fees are calculated by reference to our hourly rates and the time spent, which vary according to the level of seniority of the person dealing with your case. However, we can also consider offering a fixed fee for various stages of the case. The benefit of a fixed fee is that you have certainty about how much you will pay for each stage. Our fee arrangements can be discussed at your first meeting with us.

How long will my matter take?

The time that it takes from taking your initial instructions to the final resolution of your matter depends largely on the stage at which your case is resolved. If a settlement is reached during pre-claim conciliation, your case is likely to take 4-6 weeks. If your claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, your case is likely to take 26-52 weeks (although if your claim is complicated it may take longer). This is just an estimate and we will of course give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information and we will continually review this as the matter progresses.