Emploment Tribunals – Price List
Overview
Employment Tribunals make decisions about employment disputes, and nearly all legal cases about employment are heard in Employment Tribunals. This can include, but is not limited to unfair dismissal, redundancy and discrimination.
Counter Claims:
Where a counterclaim(s) is brought against a party, you would have to pay additional costs. In such an event, a further cost estimate for such work would be provided to you, however the total costs for the preparation time cannot be estimated at this time. Work for a counterclaim would be charged at an hourly rate to be agreed.
Appeals Against Decisions:
If you lose your case and wish to appeal the Employment Tribunal’s decision, then you will have to pay additional charges. It is impossible to provide an estimate of what the costs to bring an appeal will amount to at this time, but we would provide costs information to you before you decide to proceed. Work for an appeal would be charged at the hourly rate agreed and may include a fee payable for Counsel’s Opinion (as to whether you have a chance of succeeding in the appeal) and attendance by us and / or Counsel at any subsequent hearing.
Costs may vary depending if there is a lot of evidence to disclose.
Other Costs:
Please note that the Employment Tribunal has a wide discretion to make orders against a party and may do the following:
1. Order Costs Orders against you. Although this is uncommon, the Employment Tribunal has the power to do so. Cost Orders include fees, charges, disbursements and expenses to the claimant. Please note Cost Orders include fees (despite abolition of fees regime are not payable by claimants); however, this situation may change in the future and fees may once again be payable by Claimants and hence potentially repayable by you;
2. Order Preparation Time Orders against you. This is an order that the paying party makes a payment to the receiving party in respect of the receiving party’s preparation time while not legally represented, including time spent by any of their employees or advisers, but does not include time spent at a final hearing.
Please note the costs quoted are estimates only, before agreeing to pay our reasonable charges and expenses we recommend you contact your insurer to check to see if you are covered by your insurance policies for defending a tribunal claim. In the event that you do not have any insurance or your insurer declines to provider cover for you and you nevertheless decide to instruct us to act for you then you will be responsible for paying the costs quoted.
Services
What we charge:
Our pricing for bringing and defending claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal.
| Simple case: |
£5,400 -£18,000 (excluding VAT, charged at 20%) |
| Medium complexity case: |
£18,0001 – £72,000 (excluding VAT, charged at 20%) |
| High complexity case: |
£72,001 – £210,000 (excluding VAT, charged at 20%) |
We charge based on an hourly rate which varies depending on the member of staff dealing with your matter. Our lowest hourly rate is £220.00, and our highest hourly rate is £415.00. The seniority of the members of staff dealing with your case will depend on its complexity. We will discuss this with you when you instruct us.
There will be an additional charge for attending a Tribunal Hearing of £1,800 – £5,300 per day (excluding VAT, charged at 20%). Generally, we would allow 1-4 days depending on the complexity of your case.
Factors that could make a case more complex:
- If it is necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim
- Defending claims that are brought by litigants in person
- Making or defending a costs application
- Complex preliminary issues such as whether the claimant is disabled (if this is not agreed by the parties)
- The number of witnesses and 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
Disbursements
Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees.
AML: £6.00 per name plus VAT at 20%.
Counsel’s fees estimated between £1,000 to £3,000 per day excluding VAT, charged at 20% (depending on experience of the advocate) for attending a Tribunal Hearing (including preparation).
Medical Reports: If a medical report is to be obtained in relation to the assessment of compensation, costs can be as low as around £100 plus VAT (£120 with VAT) for obtaining a short report from a GP to in the region of £1,000 to £2,500 plus VAT (£1,200 to £3,000 with VAT) for obtaining a medico-legal report from a consultant.
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 claim or response
- Reviewing and advising on 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 bundle of documents
- Reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements
- Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list
- Preparation and attendance at 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. This can also be arranged on your individual needs.
Timescales – 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.
How long a matter will take to reach a final hearing will depend on factors such as whether a preliminary hearing is required, the likely duration of the final hearing and how busy the Tribunals are. Currently, it can take more than 11 months from the commencement of proceedings for a one-day case to reach a hearing, and more than 14 months for a case requiring 10 days or more. This is just an estimate, and we will of course be able to give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information and as the matter progresses.
Professionals
Femi Ogunshakin
Consultant Solicitor
Qualification Educational Institution
Solicitor Qualified in 2011
Areas of Law Practiced Experience Time Spent
Employment 25 year(s) 50%
Tax Specialist 25 year(s) 50%
Steven Mather
Consultant Solicitor
Qualification Educational Institution
Solicitor Qualified in 2008
Areas of Law Practiced Experience Time Spent
Disputes & Litigation inc Employment 12 year(s) 100%
Jennifer Andrews
Consultant Solicitor
Qualification Educational Institution
Solicitor Qualified in 2001
Areas of Law Practiced Experience Time Spent
Employment 19 year(s) 100%
