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Employment Tribunal Fees Information

Range of costs

To help you appreciate what may be involved in a case, we have provided a range of pricing below:

Our hourly rates:

£435 for a partner

£318 for an associate

£271 for a solicitor

£159 for a trainee solicitor or paralegal.

VAT will be added to these charges.

We would send you invoices at regular intervals, with a full breakdown of time spent on your case by all fee-earners, so you are kept aware of the charges you are incurring.

You may wish to give us a cost ceiling which won’t be exceeded without your prior written agreement.

Factors that could make a case more complex:

The length of the hearing is determined by an employment judge. If the claim is only for unfair dismissal or wrongful dismissal with no allegations of discrimination or other claims, it is likely a full hearing of your case would take two to three days or exceptionally four days – depending on the complexity.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as reports from medical experts.

We may handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. Court fees are not payable in the Employment Tribunal. We generally advise you to be represented by counsel at a full hearing.

Counsel’s fees are calculated as a fee for preparation and day one of the hearing (“the brief fee”) plus a set fee for each additional day, known as a “refresher”.

Counsel’s fees are estimated, depending on the experience of the advocate and the amount of preparation necessary. A brief fee typically sits between £2,000-£4,000 for preparation and day one, and between £750 to £1,500 for each additional day for a straightforward case.

VAT of 20% will be added to these figures. It may be some time before your case is heard, especially if it will last more than one day. By that time, counsel’s fees may have increased.

Key stages

The fees set out above cover all of the work in relation to the following key stages of a claim.

The stages set out are an indication and if some of them are not required, the fee will be reduced. You may not require a solicitor to attend the hearing as well as counsel.

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 depending on your individual needs.

How long will my matter take?

The time that it takes from receiving your initial instructions to the final resolution of your matter depends on the stage at which your case is resolved and on how much tribunal time would be required if it were fought at a final hearing.

If you are or were an employee, your claim must be brought within the three months after termination of employment.

If you are an employer, your response to the claim must be filed with the tribunal within 28 days after you receive the claim.

If a settlement is reached during pre-claim conciliation, your case is likely to take four to eight weeks. If it proceeds to a final hearing, depending on the amount of the tribunal’s time required and which tribunal will hear the case, your case is likely to take a minimum of six months after the claim is issued, but perhaps as long as two years if it required three or four days for the final hearing.

If your claim also includes complex discrimination issues, a longer hearing date would be necessary and the wait for that date could be even longer.

These are just estimates. Delays within tribunals do vary, and we will of course be able to give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information and as the matter progresses.

Our Employment Team

If you instruct us to act for you in a Tribunal claim, one of our experienced employment team members will be able to assist:

Julie Bann is a partner, heads up our employment team and supervises the work of all its members

David LeachAssociate

Christian Grierson, Junior Associate

Madina Sakhi, paralegal

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To find out how we can help you, please contact us today