Employment Tribunal

Legal Fees and disbursements

Note: Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties.

Fees are charged on a private paying basis and will usually vary depending on the complexity of the matter.

Simple case: Average fees are between £1,500.00 and £3,000 (excluding VAT) disbursements are in addition to our fees.

Medium complexity case: Average fees are between £3,000 and £10,000 (excluding VAT) disbursements are in addition to our fees.

High complexity case: Average fees are between £10,000 and £30,000 (excluding VAT) disbursements are in addition to our fees.

Factors that may affect the complexity of the case include:

If it is necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim

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 of £1,500 per day (excluding VAT). Generally, we would anticipate between 1-5 days depending on the complexity of the case.

For some types of matter we will consider acting for you on the basis of a damages based agreement – this is a type of agreement that enables us to be paid for the legal work we undertake out of any damages you receive in the event that your claim is successful.

Before agreeing to act for you on a private basis, we will discuss with you whether there are other means of funding this matter. It is important that you explore whether you have any insurance policies or trade union or affinity memberships that may provide funding for this type of claim.

Before you instruct us to act for you we will send a letter to you setting out the basis of how we will be charging you.

Likely disbursements will be:

Counsel’s fees estimated between £1,500 to £5000 per day (depending on the experience of the advocate) for attending a Tribunal Hearing (including preparation).

What services does this fee include:

The following steps are included:

Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on merits and the 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 your claim

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 that we will rely on at the hearing

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, including instructions to Counsel

Potential additional costs may be charged for:

Other claims that may be brought (for example a claim for sexual or disability discrimination against your employer)

VAT is charged at 20%

The experience of the people who may carry out the work for you:

Tim Welton has at least 20 years of experience in dealing with all employment tribunal matters.

The typical timescales and key stages of the purchase transaction

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 4-8 weeks. If your claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, your case is likely to take 20-32 weeks. This is an estimate only and we will of course be able to give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information and as the matter progresses.