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.
Our fees will be based on the time spent on the matter and the hourly rates of our team which are between £53ph and £180ph plus VAT at current rates (20%).
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 exclusive of VAT per day (depending on the experience of the advocate) for attending a Tribunal Hearing (including preparation). VAT will be charged at current rates (20%).
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.
