Employment Claims

Our pricing for bringing and defending claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal up to issue of your claim form or drafting a defence would be on a time basis and we would estimate that this could be in the region of about 17 to 20 hours’ worth of work at the current charge out rate of £320 per hour plus VAT* for the partner that deals with employment matters

*VAT will be charged at 20%

Our Services and Key stages

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

  • Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on merits of your defence or claim 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 defence
  • 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

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 such as negotiating though ACAS. This can also be arranged on your individual needs.

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 

There will be an additional charge for attending a Tribunal Hearing and we would provide you with a cost estimate of this prior to attendance at the hearing, any such cost estimate will be based on an hourly rate plus VAT*.

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.

We shall obtain and estimate for Counsel's fees should it be necessary to instruct Counsel and shall agree these with you and request the same on account before we instruct Counsel.

Counsel’s fees are estimated between £750 to £7,000*(plus VAT) per day (depending on complexity of the issue and the experience and seniority of the barrister, e.g. for attending a Tribunal Hearing (including preparation). The cost could be around £1,500 to £3,500 per day. We may also instruct Counsel to advise on particular matters or draft particular documents during your case. In that situation they would usually charge based on an hourly rate, which will be dependent on the experience and seniority of the barrister instructed and typically would range from £170- £500 per hour plus VAT*.

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 20 weeks. If your claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, your case is likely to take 15 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.