Employment Fees and Costs

Fees are charged at £200 plus VAT per hour.
All quoted prices exclude VAT. Unless stated otherwise VAT will be charged at the current rate of 20%.

Disbursements

• Barristers fees – VAT will be charged at the rate of 20%
• Third party experts fees – VAT will be charged at a rate of 20%
• All court fees are VAT exempt

Our pricing for bringing and defending claims for Unfair Dismissal or Wrongful Dismissal.

Factors to be taken into account:

1. If it is necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim
2. Defending claims that are brought by a litigant in person (representing themselves)[DB2]
3. Making and defending a costs application
4. Complex preliminary issues such as whether the claimant is disabled (if this is not agreed by the parties)
5. The number of witnesses and documents
6. If it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim (e.g. if you are dismissed after ‘blowing the whistle’ on your employer)
7. If there are allegations of discrimination which are linked to dismissal

There will be an additional charge for attending a Tribunal Hearing of £750.00 per day plus VAT. Generally, we would allow 1–5 days, depending on the complexity of your case. Usually we employ a barrister to attend Preliminary Hearings, at a cost of between £750.00–£1500.00 plus VAT. We generally do not accompany the barrister if they are employed for a Pre-Trial Hearing.

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees. We handle the payment of disbursements on your behalf, to ensure a smoother process.

Barrister’s fees are estimated at between £1500 to £3500.00 per day (depending on experience of the advocate) for attending a tribunal hearing (including the preparation for it).

Key Stages

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

1. Taking your initial instruction, reviewing the papers and advising you on the merits and likely compensation (this is likely to be revisited throughout the matter and is subject to change).
2. Entering into pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached.
3. Preparing the claim or response.
4. Reviewing and advising on a claim or a response from other party.
5. Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process.
6. Preparing or considering a Schedule of Loss/Counter-Schedule of Loss.
7. Preparing for (and attending) a Preliminary Hearing.
8. Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents.
9. Taking witness statements, drafting witness statements and agreeing their content with witnesses.
10. Preparing a bundle of documents.
11. Reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements.
12. Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list.
13. Preparing for and attending the Final Hearing, including instructions to the barrister.

The stages set out above are an indication; if one or any of the stages above are not required, the fee will be reduced. You may wish to handle the claim yourself and only require our advice in relation to some of the stages. This can also be arranged to meet your individual needs, and will significantly reduce the fees charged by us.

The length of time from taking your initial instructions to the final resolution of the matter depends largely on the stage at which your case is resolved. If a settlement is reached during the pre-claim conciliation stage, your case is likely to take 2–4 months. If your claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, your case is likely to take 12–18 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.

Your matter will be attended to by a Director, Mr Greenwood, who qualified in 1990 and has 28 years’ experience in civil litigation and employment matters.

*The prices on this website serve as indications only, based upon standard types of cases. Following the initial consultation with you, we will provide you with a quote/estimate, which will be contained in our client care letter. This figure will take precedence, and is the price you can expect to pay.