EMPLOYMENT
Our service
Our Employment Team is committed to providing expert legal advice and representation to both individuals and businesses in relation to unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal claims. With a wealth of experience in handling employment disputes, we offer clear, practical guidance tailored to your specific situation.
For individuals, we understand the significant impact that being wrongfully or unfairly dismissed can have on your career, finances, and well-being. We are here to help you challenge dismissals that violate your rights, ensuring you receive the compensation and justice you deserve. Our team offers clear, practical advice, whether you’re negotiating a settlement, pursuing a tribunal claim, or seeking reinstatement.
For businesses, we provide proactive support to help employers navigate the complex legal landscape of dismissals. From ensuring that your company follows fair procedures to defending against tribunal claims, our experienced team is committed to protecting your business interests. We offer comprehensive advice on managing dismissals, drafting contracts, and handling disputes, helping you maintain a fair and compliant workplace.
All work is supervised by a senior lawyer, who is a Partner. At the beginning of your matter we will tell you who will be working for you and who to contact should you have any concerns with our service. We will also explain the scope of our services.
This page gives an example employment matter, seen from both the point of view of the employee or the employer, and sets out what would be included in such a service. We routinely deal with matters very much more complicated than this example matter.
What is included
The key stages involved in Employment Tribunal matters include:
Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on the strategy of what you might do.
Preliminary advice to you on the likely value of the claim and any likely award (this is likely to be revisited throughout the matter and is subject to change).
Assisting you to conduct pre-claim conciliation to explore whether a settlement can be reached, to include preparing a letter before claim when appropriate.
Preparing the claim or the response to the claim.
Reviewing and advising on the claim or the response from the other party.
Preparing or considering a schedule of loss.
Advising you and, where required, preparing for and conducting or arranging representation at any preliminary hearings that may arise during the course of an Employment Tribunal claim.
Agreeing a bundle of documents and exchanging it with the other party.
Taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses.
Preparing bundles of documents for the tribunal and your advocate.
Reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements.
Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list.
Preparation for and attendance at the final hearing, including instructing an advocate to represent you.
Settlement discussions and documenting any settlement.
What is excluded
The fees set out below would not include any further work, such as:
Dealing with whistleblowing.
Any work required before the employment is terminated (e.g. in relation to an investigation or a grievance).
Any work required linked to post-termination contractual provisions such as restrictive covenants.
Advice on equity interests (including share options).
Any work linked to the impact of the termination on your professional or regulatory position as a member of or a person authorised by a regulatory or professional body.
Any appeal.
Any work linked to enforcement of any judgment.
Any work regarding your reputation.
Advising on tax.
Any additional work that is necessary as a result of a change in instructions from you.
Any work in relation to an agreed mediation process.
What we charge
Our Partners and Consultant Solicitors charge hourly rates from £350 to £640. Our Trainee Solicitors, Paralegals and Legal Assistants charge hourly rates at £250. All rates depend on the seniority of the individual and the practice area.
We offer a bespoke service and each matter is unique. We can only estimate the likely costs of our Employment Tribunal services once we have discussed the matter with you and seen the papers. However, we can provide an indication of our likely fees associated with work of varying complexity as set out above under the heading “What is included”.
Low complexity – from £15,000 to £20,000
Mid complexity – from £20,000 to £40,000
High complexity – in excess of £40,000*
(*the costs for very complex matters can exceed £100,000)
Factors that could make a case more complex:
Complex settlement discussions.
Making, defending and replying to applications and interim applications to the Employment Tribunal to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim.
The involvement of professional rules or sector-specific regulation, such the rules of the Financial Conduct Authority.
Defending claims that are brought by litigants in person.
Making or defending a costs application.
The need to deal with specific disclosure requests.
Longer hearings and more complicated facts.
Complex preliminary issues such as whether the claimant is, as a matter of law, an “employee” or has a protected belief (if this is not agreed by the parties).
More witnesses and documents.
Allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal.
The conduct and attitude of any or all of the parties involved.
Requiring any expert evidence.
In addition to our fees, you will need to budget for the following:
Instructing a barrister/advocate to represent you. It is difficult to estimate fees for counsel since this depends on the complexity of the matter, experience of the advocate required, and whether the matter reaches trial. Depending on their seniority the barrister’s hourly rate to advise will be between £250 - £800 and daily rate to attend a tribunal will be between £1,800 and £6,000.
The fees of any expert who may be required to report on a particular matter will be discussed before the expert is instructed. We incur these and other necessary additional third-party costs (“disbursements”) on your behalf. We would usually discuss disbursements with you in advance and incur them on your behalf when appropriate. You are responsible for all disbursements; we add them to your bill without mark-up. You don’t need to pay these third parties directly, though. You simply pay our bill and we will pass on the relevant sum on your behalf to the relevant third party in settlement of their fees.
Rates and VAT
Where VAT applies, then we add this to our charges at the prevailing rate. The figures quoted above all exclude VAT at 20%. Most disbursements attract VAT at the prevailing rate. This will be added to the bills we receive. We pass the total cost on to you. We do not add VAT on to disbursements where VAT has already been added by the relevant third party. Certain disbursements, such as official fees, are not subject to VAT. Where our services are not a vatable supply, then we do not charge VAT and the quote above is reduced by 20%.
How long it will 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 one to two months. If your claim proceeds to a final hearing, your case is likely to take six to twelve months, but may possibly take as long as two years or more in certain circumstances. 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. You should also note that the progress of your matter will be affected by when clerks to the Employment Tribunal list your matter to be heard. This is entirely outside our control. As with all litigation, there is no guarantee that you will be achieve your desired outcome.