Employment Tribunals for Employers Pricing Information

Employment Tribunals for Employers

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

• Simple case: £2,000 to £5,000 (excluding VAT)
• Medium complexity case: £5,000 to £20,000 (excluding VAT)
• High complexity case: £20,000 to £50,000 (excluding VAT)

Factors that could make a case more complex include:

• If it is necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim
• Defending claims that are brought by litigants in person
• Making or defending a costs application
• Complex preliminary issues such as whether the claim has been made in time
• The number of witnesses and documents
• If it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim, e.g. if the claimant alleges that they were dismissed as the result of a TUPE transfer

Unfair or wrongful dismissal claims that also 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 cover all of the work involved in relation to the following key stages of a claim:

• Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on the strength of your case and likely compensation (this will be revisited throughout the matter)
• Entering into pre-claim conciliation, where this is mandatory, to explore whether a settlement can be reached
• Preparing a response to the claim
• Exploring and negotiating potential settlement throughout the process
• Considering a Schedule of Loss
• Preparing for and attending any Preliminary Hearing
• 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 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.

Hearing

There will be an additional daily charge for attending a Tribunal Hearing of £1,200 to £3,500 (excluding 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.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your case 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.

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 (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 other funding options available, such as cover under an insurance policy and this should be checked by you as it could reduce your costs.

How long will my case take?

The time that it takes from taking your initial instructions to the final resolution of your case depends largely on the stage at which your case is resolved. If a settlement is reached during pre-claim conciliation, the case is likely to take 2 to 4 weeks. If the claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, the case is likely to take 6 to 12 months. 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 case progresses.