Employment tribunal: Range of costs

We believe it is vital for clients to receive sound advice from legal professionals that understand the needs of your organisation.

Our employment team understands there is no “one size fits all” solution to employment law. Our team will consider the structure and size of your organisation and will tailor its services to meet your needs.

Guide pricing for defending claims for unfair dismissal, discrimination or whistleblowing are as follows:

	Fee (excluding third-party Disbursements, plus VAT charged at a rate of 20%)
Simple Case	£6,000 - £8,000
Medium Complexity Case	£10,000 - £20,000
High Complexity Case	£20,000 +

Factors that could make a case more complex:

• Multiple allegations.
• 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 volume of documents.
• Allegations of discrimination or whistleblowing.
• Applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim.
• Making or defending a costs application.

Disbursements

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

Counsel's fees are estimated to be between £750 to £2500 per day (depending on the experience of the advocate) for attending a Tribunal Hearing (including preparation).

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; this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached.
• Preparing the claim or response.
• Reviewing and advising on the claim or response from the other party.
• Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process.
• Preparing or considering a schedule of loss.
• Preparing for (and attending) a preliminary hearing.
• Obtaining and considering all relevant documents.
• Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents.
• Preparing a bundle of documents.
• Taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses.
• Reviewing and advising on the other party's witness statements.
• Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list.
• Instructing Counsel if required.
• Preparation and attendance at a final hearing.

The stages set out above are only an indicator of typical key stages and some may not be required. 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 according to your individual needs.

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 up to 6 weeks.

If your claim proceeds to a final hearing, your case is likely to take 6-12 months. 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.

Debt Recovery: Range of costs

Whilst we consider it to be in everyone’s best interest to avoid court proceedings, it’s hard to ignore the fact that recovering debts will have major cash flow implications for businesses. It’s all well and good trying to keep unnecessary disputes out of court, but an intransigent debtor now has much more time to avoid paying their debts.

We recognise this as a serious issue, and that is where we are able to help.

With a proven track record in recovering debts owed to our clients, and with highly competitive fees, we guarantee an exceptional quality of legal service.

Range of costs for a business to business debt that is undisputed

These costs apply where your claim is in relation to an unpaid invoice which is not disputed, and enforcement action is not needed. If the other party disputes your claim at any point, we will discuss any further work required and provide you with revised advice about costs if necessary, which will likely be on an hourly rate.

Our hourly rates (plus VAT charged at a rate of 20%) are:

Legal Assistant	Trainee Solicitor	Senior Legal Assistant	Solicitor	Senior Solicitor	Head of Group	Associate Director
£50	£60	£70	£105	£130	£170	£195

These fees will be regularly kept up to date. The range of fees shown mean the price you will be charged is dependent on the experience of the person handling your case. We will provide a likely timescale and an estimate of the likely overall cost at the time of engagement and when appropriate as the case progresses.

The work we do includes:

• Taking your instructions and reviewing documentation.
• Undertaking appropriate searches.
• Sending a letter of claim.
• Receiving payment and sending onto you, or if the debt is not paid, drafting and issuing claim.
• Where no Acknowledgment of Service or Defence is received, applying to the court to enter Judgment in default.
• When Judgment in default is received, writing to the other side to request payment.
• If payment is not received within 7 days, providing you with advice on next steps and likely costs.

Disbursements

The total amount you will pay for your debt recovery will be inclusive of both our fees (plus VAT charged at a rate of 20%) and court fees (excluding third-party Disbursements), examples of the total cost can be found below:

Debt Value	Court fee	Our fee (Hourly)	Estimated Timescale (Hours)	Total (inclusive of 20% VAT on our fee)
Up to £5,000	£35-£205	£50-£195	1-5	£95-£1,375
£5,000.01- £10,000	£455	£50-£195	1-10	£515-£2,795
£10,000.01- £100,000	5% value of the claim	£50-£195	1-30	5% value of the claim + £60-£7,020*

*For example, for a debt of £50,000, your court fee would be £2,500, so your total would be between £2,560-£9,520 (inclusive of VAT charged at 20% for our fees)

To calculate 5% of the value of the claim, take the amount you’re claiming and multiply it by 0.05. If necessary, round down the result to the nearest 1p. The breakdown of the court fees is dependent on the debt value and can be found below. Please note that other fees may apply in relation to your matter, more information on which can be found at GOV.UK: Fees In the Civil and Family Courts.

Matters usually take 9-10 weeks but can in certain circumstances take up to 6 months, depending on if your case goes to trial. 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. This would be from receipt of instructions from you to receipt of payment from the other side, depending on whether or not it is necessary to issue a claim. This is on the basis that the other side pays promptly on receipt of Judgment in default. If enforcement action is needed, the matter will take longer to resolve.

Court Claims

When making a court claim for money and non-money claims, civil court fees will apply. Please refer to the GOV.UK website to find out which of these fees would apply to you and how to pay them. The court fees set out in this leaflet apply to, and are the same in, both the High Court and the County Court.

You must pay a court fee when you make your claim.

The fee for making a money claim online is cheaper than the fee for sending a paper claim form.

If you know the claim amount

The court fees below are for money claims, and are based on the amount you’re claiming, plus interest:

Debt Value	Paper Form Fee	Online Claim Fee
Up to £300	£35	£25
£300.01 to £500	£50	£35
£500.01 to £1,000	£70	£60
£1,000.01 to £1,500	£80	£70
£1,500.01 to £3,000	£115	£105
£3,000.01 to £5,000	£205	£185
£5,000.01 to £10,000	£455	£410
£10,000.01 to £100,000	5% of the claim	4.5% of the claim

To calculate 5% of the value of the claim, take the amount you’re claiming and multiply it by 0.05. If necessary, round down the result to the nearest 1p.

Which fee you need to pay

You’ll need to estimate the amount you’re claiming and pay the paper form fee for that amount.

Anyone wishing to proceed with a claim should note that:

• The VAT element of our fee cannot be reclaimed from your debtor.
• Interest and compensation may take the debt into a higher banding, with a higher cost.

The costs quoted above are not for matters where enforcement action, such as the bailiff, is needed to collect your debt. If enforcement action is needed, it will incur further costs. These costs will be discussed with you prior to proceeding.