Legal Fee Information for Employment Tribunal Claims for Unfair or Wrongful Dismissal
We have set out below the issues you need to consider in relation to Legal Fees and disbursements for presenting or defending a claim for unfair or wrongful dismissal.
Our Legal Fees cover all the work required to handle your case from instruction to conclusion.
You should be aware that before issuing a claim at the Tribunal, you will need to go through a process of pre-action conciliation with ACAS to explore settlement. We can guide you through this process and confirm our costs for assisting with these pre action stages.
Legal Fees
Legal Fees are the amount you will be required to pay for all the work performed by us in actioning your instructions from commencement of your case to conclusion.
VAT will be payable on our fees and some disbursements, currently 20%, and we will clearly confirm which disbursements carry VAT in our formal quotation or as we advise you to incur them.
Range of Employment Tribunal Costs
Prices for presenting or defending unfair or wrongful dismissal cases in the Employment Tribunal can vary hugely depending on various factors including the number of witnesses and the complexity of the legal issues involved. Our average standard legal fee for presenting or defending a claim for unfair or wrongful dismissal in the Employment Tribunal (excluding other Employment Tribunal claims, such as whistleblowing or discrimination claims) is as follows:
• Simple case: £7,700.00 – £10,000.00 plus VAT (£9,000.00 - £12,000.00 inc. VAT)
• Medium complexity case: £10,00.00 – £20,000.00 plus VAT (£12,000.00 - £24,000.00 inc. VAT)
• High complexity case: £20,000 - £50,000.00 plus VAT (£24,000.00 - £60,000.00 inc. VAT)
The costs can vary stated above, for example if an early settlement is reached before the final hearing, the cost could be significantly lower.
If your matter becomes complex (see below) our fees may increase further and we will notify you in advance of any increased costs.
We will provide costs advice tailored to the facts and issues of your particular case once we have taken your initial instructions and we will keep costs under review and updated as your case progresses.
If at any stage our fees change, we will notify you and discuss the reason for any changes. This would typically occur if you change your instructions or your case involves an unforeseen complexity.
Our fees assume that:
a. The transaction is concluded in a timely manner and no unforeseen complication arise.
b. All parties to the transaction are co-operative and there is no unreasonable delay from any parties providing documentation
Disbursements
Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties. In this context the likely disbursements will be limited to expert reports (such as a medical report) and Counsel (Barrister)’s fees to provide advice or represent you at a hearing. If you bring your claim in the employment tribunal then there are no court fees to pay, but you will need to pay the fees of a barrister to represent you or for other expert reports. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.
If Counsel or other experts are required to be instructed a quotation for their services will be obtained from them and discussed with your before they are instructed to ensure you are fully aware of the fees that will be charged.
• Counsel’s fees are estimated between £1,500.00 – £3,500.00 plus VAT (£1,800.00 - £4,200.00 inc. VAT) per day for attending a Tribunal Hearing (including preparation (depending on experience of the advocate, and the location of the hearing). (Additional sums in respect of travel expenses may also be payable, charged at the actual costs).
• If you want a very experienced barrister, then the cost is likely to be more. You may also incur additional charges such as travel costs for us to attend meetings and hearings.
• Medical report fees/ other experts fees (if applicable) – on occasion an expert report may be required in our experience a cost of these reports range from £750.00 - £2000.00 + VAT (£900.00 - £2,400.00 Inc. VAT).
Key Stages of The Process – What is included
The fees set out above cover 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 is subject to change depending on the progression of the matter)
• Entering into pre-claim conciliation via ACAS, (unless already competed) which is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached
• Preparing a Claim or Response
• Reviewing/advising on the Claim, or Response from other party
• Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process
• Complying with all Orders/Directions given by the Employment Tribunal, to include:
• Preparing or considering a schedule of loss
• Preparing for (and attending) a Preliminary Hearing, where required
• Exchanging documents with the other party and preparing document lists
• 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, if directed to do so
• Preparation and attendance at Final Hearing, including instructions to Counsel
The stages set out above are an indication of the usual stages of the Employment Tribunal process, however, dependant on the complexity of a case, not all stages will be necessary, and as such fees will be reduced accordingly.
If you wish to handle the claim yourself, and only have our advice in relation to some of the stages, this can 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 applications prior to a final hearing
• Making or defending a cost application
• Dealing with disputed Preliminary issues
• The number of witnesses
• The volume of documentation
• If it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim e.g. if you are dismissed after blowing the whistle on your employer
• Allegations of discrimination or whistleblowing which are linked to the dismissal
• Linked claims in other jurisdictions
Should any of these factors occur we will notify you and discuss with you any increase in our legal fees or disbursements.
There will be an additional charge for attending a Tribunal Hearing of approximately £750.00 – £1,500.00 per day plus VAT (£900.00 - £1,800.00 inc. VAT) where required. This depends on the complexity of a case and the seniority of the fee earner involved.
Our fees do not include
The fees set out above do not include any enforcement proceedings (if such proceedings prove necessary) following a successful Employment Tribunal claim, nor an appeal you may wish to make against the judgment of the Employment Tribunal.
Legal expenses insurance
If you have a policy of car insurance or home insurance, then it is always open to you to contact your insurer to see if you have legal expenses insurance attached to that policy. Your insurer should be able to identify whether that insurance cover might be used to fund your employment tribunal or court claim.
You do not necessarily have to instruct the solicitor or claims company that your insurer directs you to. We are happy to work with insurers when it comes to representing you and, therefore, if you would like to instruct us, please feel free to suggest us to your insurer.
It is important to note that employment tribunal court fees do not apply at present. This means that you do not need to pay to start a claim at the tribunal, although solicitors and barristers are still entitled to charge legal fees for representing you.
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 approximately 2 – 12 weeks. If your claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, your case is likely to take up to, (if not more than) 52 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. Again this will be dependent on various factors, including the type of case being pursued and its complexity
Qualifications
Our employment team is made up of a number of solicitors, all of whom have good employment experience, and is supervised by Paul Stedman, a Solicitor who has over 25 years’ experience and a Partner at Orwins.
For more information on our team members, visit Our People.
Questions
If you have any questions relating to our services and our fees, all our contact information can be found here: Contact Us.
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