Our pricing for issuing claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal in the Employment Tribunal is as follows:

Simple case: £2,000 to £5,000 plus VAT which is charged at 20% (£2400-£6,000 inclusive of VAT)
Average complexity case: £5,000 to £20,000 (£6,000 – £24,000 inclusive of VAT)
High complexity case: £20,000 to £50,000 (£24,000-£60,000 inclusive of VAT)

Factors that may increase the complexity of a case include:

  • Making or defending applications to amend pleadings or to provide further information about an existing claim or response
  • The number of witnesses and volume of documentation
  • If it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim eg where we are alleging that you were dismissed for making a protected disclosure or in connection with a TUPE transfer

Please note that claims that include allegations of discrimination or whistleblowing can be very complex and our costs could exceed those set out above

Key stages

The costs set out above include the work relating to the following stages of a claim:

  • Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the documents and advising you on the merits of your case and likely compensation
  • Entering into ACAS early conciliation, where this is mandatory, to explore whether a settlement can be reached
  • Preparing the claim
  • Exploring and negotiating potential settlement throughout the process
  • Preparing a Schedule of Loss and rebutting any counter schedule
  • Preparing for and attending any Preliminary Hearing
  • Preparing a list of documents, exchanging documents with the other side and agreeing the Tribunal documents
  • Taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses
  • Reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements
  • Agreeing a list of issues, cast list and chronology where necessary

The stages set out above are an indication of what may be necessary but if some of the stages above are not required, the cost 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, and appropriate charges agreed, depending on your individual needs.

Tribunal Hearing Legal Fees

There will be an additional daily charge for attending a Tribunal Hearing of £2,000 to £3,500 (excluding VAT) (£2,400-£4,200 inclusive of VAT) (depending on the experience of the advocate). Generally, you should allow 1 to 3 days for a Tribunal Hearing depending on the complexity of the case. However, cases are sometimes listed for longer hearings of eg. 10 or 15 days.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your case that are payable to third parties, such as barristers or experts. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.
If a barrister is instructed to attend a Tribunal Hearing, we would expect a barrister’s fee for a one day hearing to be between £700 and £3,500 excluding VAT charged at 20% (depending on the barrister’s experience). A barrister’s charges for multi-day hearings would depend on the length of the hearing and the experience of the advocate.

Funding

You may have cover under an insurance policy and we recommend that you check this as it could significantly reduce your costs.

How long will my case take?

The time a case takes to conclude will vary according to the stage at which it resolves. Some cases are resolved at an early stage, within a matter of weeks, whilst others proceed to a final hearing. Cases may currently take 12-18 months if they proceed to a final hearing.