Our charges
We feel it is important to be as transparent as possible at the outset of your relationship with us, and we provide clear costs information so that you can budget appropriately.
Our overall fees vary depending upon how complex your case is and what you would like us to do. For a free quote specifically tailored to your circumstances please email [email protected] or call 0333 888 1360. We would be more than happy to discuss your case.
To give you an idea of how we charge, however, and to comply with the SRA price transparency rules, we have set out below details of our typical hourly rates and fees for unfair and wrongful dismissal claims.
Our charges are made up of:
- our fees for the legal work;
- ‘disbursements’ – disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to other people, such as fees for a barrister’s opinion or help at Court. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.
Where VAT is referred to below please note that this will be charged at the applicable rate, which is currently 20%.
Alongside hourly rate work, we are usually able to offer some or all of the following fee structures:
- Fixed fees: (examples below)
- Fixed fee monthly retainer options: To enable you to have a really great level of expertise in your corner at a manageable cost we can offer our unique outsourced Watertight HR & Legal package. There are 3 levels of package to suit all businesses, you can read more about Watertight here.
- Pay as you go: For some clients, it is suitable to come and engage us for specific projects such as drafting contracts and policies, investigations, disciplinary, training, or interim HR. we will give you an estimate on our costs on a project-by-project basis if you prefer.
- Legal Expenses Insurance: We also can support both businesses and individuals through funding by their insurers, for Tribunal matters. Some insurers will prefer you to use firms of solicitors selected from their panel. However, you have the right to choose your own representation and should not be pressured into instructing a solicitor simply because they are recommended by the insurance broker. Often tribunal claims costs insurance is included within a home insurance policy or Directors and office insurance. You should check your policies to see if you are covered.
Hourly Rate
If you do wish to instruct us on our hourly rates these are as follows:
Name | Position | Hourly rate (£) + VAT (20%) | Experience |
Jay Bhayani | Managing Director & Solicitor (Employment) | £300 | Please have a look at Jay’s bio for details of her experience. |
Rebecca Stopford | Consultant Lawyer (Company & Commercial matters) | £330 | Please have a look at Rebecca’s bio for details of her experience. |
Alex Hurwood | Consultant Solicitor (Employment) | £290 | Please have a look at Alex’s bio for details of her experience. |
Hannah Haywood | Employment Lawyer | £260 | Please have a look at Hannah’s bio for details of her experience. |
Sian Summers | Employment Lawyer | £260 | Please have a look at Sian’s bio for details of her experience. |
Kathryn Gilbert | Head of HR Services | £260 | Please have a look at Kathryn’s bio for details of her experience. |
Ellie Hand | Senior HR Advisor & Training Lead | £250 | Please have a look at Ellie’s bio for details of her experience. |
Zoi Pisourika | HR Advisor | £230 | Please have a look at Zoi’s bio for details of her experience. |
Kirsty Rhodes | HR Advisor | £200 | Please have a look at Kirsty’s bio for details of her experience |
Grace Beecher | Legal Advisor | £200 | Please have a look at Grace’s bio for details of her experience. |
The actual hourly rate will depend on the complexity of the support required. Please note all cases will be supervised by a qualified solicitor.
Our fees
Our fees will either be agreed with you as a fixed sum at the start of your case or based on how much time it takes to deal with your case, based on the above hourly rates.
To give a very general idea of how much our fees (excluding ‘disbursements’ – see below) tend to be where an employee brings a claim for unfair or wrongful dismissal the ranges tend to be:
- Simple cases: £8,000 – £10,000 (excluding VAT);
- Medium complexity cases: £10,000 – £15,000 (excluding VAT);
- High complexity cases: £15,000 + (excluding VAT).
For an employer defending a claim for unfair or wrongful dismissal, the ranges tend to be:
- Simple cases: £8,500 – £12,000 (excluding VAT);
- Medium complexity cases: £12,500 – 15,000 (excluding VAT);
- High complexity cases: £15,000 + (excluding VAT).
Fixed fees would typically fall within these ball park estimates also. Please note these are indicative estimated costs only, based on the hourly charging rates above.
As can be seen from the above, the time spent on a case and our costs can vary significantly depending upon how complex a case is. A case is likely to be more complex (and so incur more time) if:
- It is necessary to attend a long hearing;
- it is necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim;
- it is necessary to defend claims that are brought by litigants in person
- it is necessary to make or defend a costs application
- there are complex preliminary issues such as whether the claimant is disabled (if this is not agreed by the parties)
- the number of witnesses and documents is high
- it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim e.g. if you are dismissed after blowing the whistle on your employer
- there are allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal
Similarly, other employment law cases such as employee settlement agreements would be much simpler and cost much less (and may be paid by the employer). Call us on 0333 888 1360 if you are not sure what sort of case yours is and we can guide you further.
These are a non-exhausting list of examples of unexpected complexities which may require more time to be spent on your matter. This may result in us having to increase your legal fee (which could apply to either fixed fee or hourly quoted matters), as a result of the additional work which will be needed. Please rest assured if such extra costs become anticipated, we shall contact you beforehand to discuss this extent of this with you and seek your approval to any extra likely costs before going ahead.
Disbursements
You will need to pay for ‘disbursements’ in addition to our fees as described above. In an unfair or wrongful dismissal claim the most common disbursements are for barrister’s fees. A barrister is often used to deal with a Tribunal hearing if your case is not settled before this time (which can often occur). Barrister’s fees tend to be in the region of £750 – £3,000 + VAT per day. We will however guide you on this as and when external costs need to be incurred.
Other costs to consider
Normally you do not have to pay your opponent’s costs in an employment claim but we will guide you further if we feel that you are at risk of this at any stage.
Examples of our charges
The table below is a typical example (for illustration only) of the legal costs of bringing an employment Tribunal claim by an employee in a medium complexity case which results in a 3 / 5 day hearing before conclusion:
Services | Cost + VAT |
Review of documents (depending on quantity) | £260.00 – £1,040.00 + VAT |
Preparing the ET1/ET3 and Grounds of Claim/Defence | £780.00 – £1,200.00 + VAT |
Preparing disclosure of documents for preliminary hearing | £650.00 – £910.00 + VAT |
Barrister fees for preliminary hearing | £750.00 – £1,500.00 + VAT |
Preparing disclosure of documents for final hearing | £1,000.00 – £1,500.00 + VAT |
Reviewing disclosure from the other side | £650.00 – £1,000.00 + VAT |
Drafting witness statements | £780.00 – £1,000.00 + VAT per statement |
Preparation for final hearing | £780.00 – £1,000.00 + VAT |
Barrister fees for final hearing | £1,500.00 – £3,000.00 + VAT |
Key stages of your claim
The examples of typical costs above cover all of the work in relation to the following key stages of an unfair dismissal or wrongful dismissal case:
- Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on your prospects of success in the claim and the likely compensation, although this is likely to be revisited throughout the case and subject to change.
- Entering into pre-claim conciliation with ACAS where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached.
- Preparing your claim or response.
- Reviewing and advising on the claim or response from the other party.
- Exploring settlement and negotiating a 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 bundles of documents for the final hearing.
- Reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements.
- Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list.
- Preparation and instructions to the barrister (if this is not being done in-house by us) for the final hearing.
The stages set out above are an indication only and if some of the stages are not required, the fee may be reduced. Some clients may wish to attempt to handle some parts of a very straight-forward matter themselves and only have our advice in relation to some of the stages. This can also reduce the cost if your case is one where we’re comfortable that this is a sensible approach to take.
It would not normally be necessary to undertake other work or incur other costs other than those described above. However, we would be very happy to provide you with a more tailored quote for all stages of your particular case once we know about your specific circumstances.
How long will my case take?
The time it takes from your initial instructions to the end of your case depends largely on the stage at which it is resolved. If a settlement is reached during pre-claim discussions, your case is likely to take 3 – 4 weeks. If your claim proceeds to a final hearing, your case is likely to take 20 – 36 weeks. This is just an illustration and we will be able to give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information from you and as the case progresses.
Who will be dealing with my case?
Your case will be handled by a trusted member of our experienced team who are, generally speaking, qualified as a solicitor. We also have a number of qualified lawyers in the team as well as experienced paralegals specialised in this area of law. Once we know who will be handling your case for you we will introduce you to them and provide you with full details of their background and qualifications. Full details of the experience and qualifications of our team are available on our website here including the types of work normally undertaken.
Regardless of who is working on your case, the matter will be supervised by our Head of Employment Law:
Jay Bhayani
- (LLB (Hons) Law)
- 25 years’ experience of dealing with all aspects of HR and employment matters and specialises in complex and sensitive issues, using her experience and knowledge to find tactical solutions.
What to do next?
Please contact us to arrange an initial assessment. Please note your first phone call or email is free of charge and there is no obligation to instruct us if you choose not to.
