Employment tribunal claims are handled by our specialist employment solicitor, David Coward who has over 25 years’ experience of advising upon employment tribunal cases.
Our pricing for bringing and defending claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal is as follows:
- simple case: £1,000 - £1,500 (plus VAT at 20% )
- medium complexity case: £1,500 - (plus VAT at 20%)
- high complexity case: £7,500 - £25,000 (plus VAT at 20%VAT)
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.
Our pricing is based upon a charging rate of £325 per hour plus VAT at 20%.
There will be an additional charge for attending a Tribunal Hearing of £750 per day (plus VAT 20%). Generally, we would allow 1 to 3 days, depending on the complexity of your case.
Disbursements
Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.
Counsel’s fees are estimated between £500 to £1,500 per day (depending on experience of the advocate) for attending a Tribunal Hearing (including preparation).
Key Stages
The fees set out above cover all 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 or drafting instructions to Counsel to attend.
The stages set out above are an indication and if some of the 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 based upon 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 1 to 6 weeks. If you claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, your case is likely to take 26 to 39 weeks. 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.