Employment Costs

Individual Customers

Our Employment Law Solicitor, Paul Hardy is an experienced member of the Employment Lawyers Association with over 20 years experience of handling unfair and wrongful dismissal claims. The Supervising Partner, Christopher Milligan is our Senior Partner and recognised as one of the leading Criminal Defence lawyers in the Midlands and also has over 20 years experience before the Courts and Tribunals.

We offer a Free-initial first telephone meeting scheme for a no obligation call up to 15 minutes and a Fixed fee consultation meeting with Fees starting from £250 plus VAT.

We are experienced working with legal expenses insurers and where your claim for unfair or wrongful dismissal is being funded by your insurers we will agree a negotiated hourly rate plus VAT and any additional expenses to be paid for such as counsel or expert fees directly with your insurers. Hourly rates will vary depending on your insurer and the complexity of the work involved in your claim and may range from £100.00 to £300.00 plus VAT.

Fixed fee arrangements will be based upon a scope of work set out in our engagement letter. (The scope may be limited and the eventual fee may be higher.) These arrangements all differ and your solicitor will need to explain the details to you.

The typical cost of a straightforward unfair dismissal claim lasting one full day in the Tribunal may cost in the region of £5,000 plus VAT. Cases lasting longer will inevitably cost more. Individual costs estimates will always be provided at the outset of a case in the form of a costs budget for your approval.

The typical timescale of a claim for unfair or wrongful dismissal can vary according to the time estimate of final hearing and the current listing dates being offered by the Employment Tribunal Hearing Centre. Claims involving a greater number of witnesses who are to give evidence and documents to be considered will typically take longer to be heard. Predicted timescales for the completion of a 3 day unfair dismissal claim maybe in the region of 9-12 months and for a one day wrongful dismissal claim around 6-9 months.

Key stages of a typical claim involve the pre issue stage known as the ACAS Early Conciliation process, the post issue stage known as the case management process involving a preliminary case management hearing and a requirement to comply with directions designed to help the parties fully prepare the evidence, and for claims that do not settle, there is the final hearing to determine both the merits and remedy.

This LLP does not offer any ‘no win, no fee’ arrangements for employment tribunal cases.

Business Customers

We offer a Free-initial first telephone meeting scheme for a no obligation call up to 15 minutes and a Fixed fee consultation meeting with Fees starting from £250 plus VAT.

We are experienced working with commercial legal expenses insurers and where your claim for unfair or wrongful dismissal is being funded by your insurers and they consent to this LLP representing you then we will agree a negotiated hourly rate plus VAT and any additional expenses to be paid for such as counsel or expert fees directly with your insurers. Hourly rates will vary depending on your insurer and the complexity of the work involved in your claim from £100.00 to £300.00 plus VAT.

Key stages of a typical claim involve the pre-issue stage known as the ACAS Early Conciliation process, the post-issue stage known as the case management process involving a preliminary case management hearing and a requirement to comply with directions designed to help the parties fully prepare the evidence, and for claims that do not settle, there is the final hearing to determine both the merits and remedy.

This LLP does not offer any ‘no win, no fee’ arrangements for employment tribunal cases.

VAT

All fees shown as being subject to VAT will have VAT charged at the prevailing rate (currently 20% as at 1 October 2023.)

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.

Counsel's fees estimated between £1,000 to £2,000 per day excluding VAT, charged at 20% (depending on experience of the advocate) for attending a Tribunal Hearing (including preparation)

Key stages

The fees set out above cover all of the 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 subject to change)
Entering into pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached;
Preparing claim or response
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
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

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. This can also be arranged on your individual needs.