Employment Tribunal Claims

Introduction

We have set out below the issues you need to consider in relation to Legal Fees and disbursements for presenting or defending a claim for unfair or wrongful dismissal.

Our Legal Fees cover all of the work required to handle your case from instruction to conclusion.

The price information provided here is a guide price only and is not necessarily a binding quote for your individual matter. The fee estimate tailored to your matter will be provided upon your instructions.

Legal Fees are the amount you will be required to pay for all the work performed by us in actioning your instructions from commencement of your case to conclusion. VAT will be payable on our fees and some disbursements, currently 20% and we will clearly confirm which disbursements carry VAT in our formal quotation or as we advise you to incur them.

We charge our standard hourly rates for providing advice and representation to employees or employers in relation to bringing or defending claims before the Employment Tribunal for unfair or wrongful dismissal. Our standard hourly rates are as below:

Status	Hourly Rate
Directors, Solicitors, Legal Executives & other fee earners with over eight years’ post-qualification experience including at least eight years’ litigation experience	301 Plus VAT
Solicitors/Legal Executives & other fee earners with 4 years’ experience	247 Plus VAT
Other Solicitors/Legal Executives & fee earners	197 Plus VAT
Other fee earners & Paralegals	138 Plus VAT

Our estimated fees based on the above standard hourly rates for bringing or defending an employment claim for unfair or wrongful dismissal range from 8,000 to £25,000 plus VAT. (£9,600 – £30,000 Inc. VAT)

The value and complexity of the matter alongside the stage at which the matter is resolved are factors that must be taken into account to confirm the fees in accordance with this scale.

We will charge the sum of £35 + VAT (£42 inc. VAT) for Electronic money transfers.

If at any stage our fees change, we will notify you and discuss the reason for any changes. This would typically occur if you change your instructions, or your case involves an unforeseen complexity.

Our average fees assume that:

• The transaction is concluded in a timely manner and no unforeseen complication arise.
• All parties to the transaction are co-operative and there is no unreasonable delay from any parties providing documentation.

Disbursements and Other Costs

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as counsel’s fees. This is not included in our hourly or agreed fixed fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. Please note, all disbursements attract 20% VAT.

The disbursements for employment matters may include:

• Counsel’s (Barrister) fees for preliminary hearing: £750.00 – £2500.00
• Counsel’s (Barrister) fees for two days hearing: £2500 – £8000

 

Stages of the Process

The precise stages involved in unfair or wrong dismissal claims vary according to the circumstances.
We have set out the key stages of a standard transaction and what our service includes: –

• Taking your initial instructions, investigating, and reviewing the circumstances of the case and relevant documents, and advising you on the merits of the case.
• Entering and assisting you in pre-claim conciliation, drafting and filing claim or response if the matter is not reconciled.
• Preparing for a preliminary hearing.
• Preparing the case for the hearing by collating all the relevant documents and exchanging them with the opponents, drafting and or considering schedule of loss or counter schedule of loss, drafting witness statements, considering witness statements disclosed by other party, preparing a court bundle.
• Instructing and liaising with the counsel for liability and remedy hearings.

The stages set out above are an indication and if some of stages above are not required, your legal fee may be reduced.

Please note that the fee estimates provided do not include the cost of  attendance at a final hearing by us or a Barrister instructed to represent you.

How long will my claim 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.

An employment claim or defence takes 6 – 12 months to get resolved, depending, what stage claim or defence has  settled or decided by the tribunal.

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.

Factors That Could Make A Case More Complex

The following factors may make your case more complex and impact on your legal fees and disbursements: –

• Inclusion of other employment claims
• Number of documents requiring review and advice
• Acting against a litigant in person (someone who is not legally represented in their claim)
• 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

 

Should any of these factors occur we will notify you and discuss with you any increase in our legal fees or disbursements.

Alternative Funding Options CFA/DBA 

In some cases, we may consider providing a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) or a Damages-Based Agreement (DBA) as a funding option. However, before we can offer either of these arrangements, we will need to assess the viability of your claim by conducting a risk assessment. The duration of the assessment process will depend on the amount of documentation that needs to be reviewed. Typically, it takes between 2 to 3 hours and may cost between £414.00 and £903.00 plus VAT (£496.80 – £1083.60 Inc. VAT) based on the fee earner who handles the assessment.

If a CFA or DBA is offered, you will be responsible for all disbursements, which may include court, barrister, and search fees. If you win your case, you will also be liable for the success fee, which will either be a percentage of the costs  incurred or a percentage of your damages, depending on the funding arrangement offered. Until we understand the nature of your case we are unable to assess the level of deduction, but we can reassure you that under our CFA or DBA, your contribution to our legal fees will never be more than 25% of your compensation.

Please note that we are not obligated to offer a CFA or DBA and will only do so if we believe your claim has sufficient prospects of success.

Fee Earners

We have several members of the team who may work on your matter. Regardless of who works on your matter, they will be supervised by Saad Balouch, Director / Solicitor and Head of Employment Law. You can view  information about our team members here: https://clydesolicitors.co.uk/our-team/

Questions

If you have any questions relating to our services and our fees, please contact us by calling 02035000 913 or email info@clydesolicitors.co.uk