Pricing and service information: Employment tribunal claims

Our fees for advice on employment tribunal claims will reflect the particular requirements of your case, your particular needs and the extent of our work as no employment tribunal case is exactly the same. It is therefore not possible to provide you with a specific estimate until we have assessed the details of your case and agreed the work that we would do, at which point we would give you an individual cost estimate.

However, we have provided below a likely range of costs for unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal cases in order to give you an indication of cost.

This is provided for your general guidance only and is not a fixed fee or binding quote. Our actual fees would be calculated using our standard hourly rates which range from £135 to £530 per hour (plus VAT of between £27 and £106, if applicable).

Simple unfair dismissal and/or wrongful dismissal case: £8,500 – £15,000 (plus VAT of between £1,700 and £3,000, if applicable).

Complex unfair dismissal and/or wrongful dismissal case: £12,500 – £30,000 (plus VAT of between £2,500 and £6,000, if applicable).

Factors that will influence whether a case is simple or complex include:

• the number of other parties involved
• whether the other party(s) is unrepresented
• the number of witnesses involved
• the number and complexity of the factual issues and documents involved
• the number of days the hearing is listed for
• whether the timeframes involved in the case change as it progresses
• the clarity and speed of your instructions.

Please note that these indicative cost ranges are for unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal cases only. Cases involving other types of claim are inherently more complicated and more variable, which will impact on the cost of handling them for you – please contact us for more information about the likely cost of such cases.

Key stages

The indicative costs set out above including the following key stages of a case:

• Taking your initial instructions and reviewing the papers.
• Preparation of a claim form or a response to the claim.
• Reviewing and identifying documents to disclose to the other party.
• Exchanging documents and preparing/agreeing a bundle of documents.
• Taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses.
• Reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements.
• Booking a barrister to represent you at a hearing and drafting instructions to the barrister.

These stages are indicative only. Additional stages may be required (see below).

Other stages – not included

Please note that the following are not included in the indicative costs given above, but may be required or desirable as part of an employment tribunal claim:

• Providing a written case assessment or merits review.
• Requesting or providing further particulars.
• Preparing for and/or attending any preliminary hearings.
• Conducting or advising on settlement negotiations, including any pre-claim conciliation.
• Making or responding to any applications to the employment tribunal.
• Identifying or instructing any expert witnesses.
• Reviewing or drafting a schedule of loss or counter schedule of loss.
• Drafting or agreeing a list of issues, cast list or chronology of events.
• Preparing witnesses for hearing.
• Attending any Tribunal hearing.
• Advice on the tax treatment of any settlement or award.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your case that are usually payable to third parties. We handle the payment of disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process, but we will require you to reimburse us for those costs.

If you choose to instruct a barrister to represent you at a tribunal hearing, their fees will depend on the level of experience of the barrister and the complexity of the case. Their fees could range between £500 and £5,000 per day (plus VAT of between £100 and £1,000, if applicable). This normally includes the barrister’s preparation time, but if you require a pre-hearing conference with the barrister or any other advice from the barrister (such as on tactics, settlement, or on what to do after the Tribunal has given its judgment) this will incur additional costs.

Other disbursements which may be incurred include photocopying costs (e.g. for preparing disclosure and bundles), travel costs (e.g. for us to meet with you or witnesses to take witness statements, or to travel to a hearing) and conference calls (e.g. to advise you on next steps or to hold a pre-hearing conference with the barrister). The level of these additional disbursements can vary significantly from case to case and would depend on the specific disbursements. However, an indicative range of likely costs is £100 – £1,000 (plus VAT of between £20 and £200, if applicable).

Timescales

The time that it takes from your initial instructions to the final resolution of your matter depends largely on the stage at which you case is resolved and the timetable determined by the employment tribunal handling your case. If a settlement is reached during pre-claim conciliation, your case is likely to take between 2 to 6 weeks from commencement of the pre-claim conciliation process. However, if your claim proceeds to a final hearing in the employment tribunal, your case is likely to take between 6 to 12 months from the date the claim is issued. This is just an estimate and we will be able to give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information and as the matter progresses.

Team

Your case may be handled by any of our lawyers, all of whom specialise in employment law and have experience of handling employment tribunal cases on behalf of a range of clients throughout their careers. One of our employment partners will have overall responsibility for your matter but, in most cases, it will be handled on a day to day basis by one of our Senior Associates, Associates or Solicitors. Our qualified lawyers may be assisted from time to time with more basic tasks by our Trainees, Legal Executives or Paralegals.

Lawyer name	Lawyer position	Qualification year	Hourly rate
Adrian Martin	Partner and Head of Employment	1999	£530 (plus VAT of £106, if applicable).
Chris Seaton	Senior Partner	1993	£530 (plus VAT of £106, if applicable).
Luke Bowery	Partner	2004	£530 (plus VAT of £106, if applicable).
Katie Russell	Partner	2005	£475 (plus VAT of £95, if applicable).
James Green	Director	2005	£395 – £455 (plus VAT of £79 – £91, if applicable).
Jamie Cameron	Director	2005	£370 – £425 (plus VAT of £74 – £85, if applicable).
Huw Cooke	Senior Associate	1999	£370 – £425 (plus VAT of £74 – £85, if applicable).
Natalie Jeffries	Senior Associate	2011	£370 – £425 (plus VAT of £74 – £85, if applicable).
Annelise Tracy Phillips	Senior Associate	1994	£370 – £425 (plus VAT of £74 – £85, if applicable).
Grace Malone	Senior Associate	2012	£370 – £425 (plus VAT of £74 – £85, if applicable).
Pip Galland	Senior Associate	2015	£345 – £400 (plus VAT of £69 – £80, if applicable).
Katie Wooller	Senior Associate (PSL)	2013	£345 – £400 (plus VAT of £69 – £80, if applicable).
Victoria Newman	Associate	2016	£240 – £365 (plus VAT of £48 – £73, if applicable).
Eilidh Wood	Senior Associate	2018	£285 (plus VAT of £57 if applicable).
Ellen Goodland	Solicitor	2019	£245 (plus VAT of £49, if applicable).

Lawyer position	Hourly rate
Second Year Trainee Solicitors*	£145 – £160 (plus VAT of £29 – £32, if applicable).
First Year Trainee Solicitors*	£135 – £160 (plus VAT of £27 – £32, if applicable).

*The majority of our trainees completed an Introduction to Professional Practice course as part of their Legal Practice Course certification and have prior experience with drafting and legal research.