The Cost of Your Employment Tribunal Defence
Our quote for the legal work on your defence of an employment tribunal claim for unfair or wrongful dismissal will be given on a fixed fee basis, subject to assumptions which are set out below.
All legal fees and additional costs quoted on this page are exclusive of VAT with the amount of VAT (at the current rate of 20%) shown; this is the usual method of pricing for businesses.
-
- Jolyon Berry
- Head of Employment
The quote that we give you will be based on your company’s individual circumstances and will depend on the complexity of the case. The following factors are likely to make your defence more complex:
- If it is necessary to defend applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim
- Making a costs application
- Defending claims that are brought by litigants in person
- Defending a costs application
- Complex preliminary issues (if not agreed by the parties)
- The number of witnesses and documents
- There are allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal
TSP legal fees for your Employment Tribunal Defence: The vast majority of claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal do not proceed to a final hearing before an Employment Tribunal and settle at an earlier stage. For this reason, in the table below, we have shown the key stages in an Employment Tribunal Defence and given a VAT exclusive fixed fee for each stage ranging from simple to complex.
| Complexity of Case | From Simple | To Complex |
|---|---|---|
| We take your initial instructions, review any papers and advise you on your position and next steps. | £986.70(+£197.34 VAT) | £3,946.80 (+£789.36 VAT) |
| We will respond to contact from ACAS to explore whether the employee will settle the case before bringing a claim to the tribunal. | £328.90 (+£65.78 VAT) | £328.90 (+£65.78 VAT) |
| We receive, review and advise you on the employee’s claim. | £657.80 (+£131.56 VAT) | £1,315.60 (+£263.12 VAT) |
| We prepare the response and file the response form with the employment tribunal. We advise you on the merits of the employee’s claim and any likely compensation. We will review these as the matter progresses. | £1,973.40 (+£394.68 VAT) | £3,946.80 (+£789.36 VAT) |
| We help you to prepare for and attend any preliminary hearing. We deal with any case management orders made by the employment tribunal. | £657.80 (+£131.56 VAT) | £3,946.80 (+£789.36 VAT) |
| We consider and advise you on the possible settlement of the employee’s case and negotiate any settlement. We will do this throughout the process. | £657.80 (+£131.56 VAT) | £3,946.80 (+£789.36 VAT) |
| We receive and advise on the employee’s schedule of loss. We prepare and provide the employee with a counter-schedule of loss. | £657.80 (+£131.56 VAT) | £3,946.80 (+£789.36 VAT) |
| We collect any relevant documents from you, prepare a list of these for the employee and provide them with documents they request from the list. | £657.80 (+£131.56 VAT) | £2,631.20 (+£526.24 VAT) |
| We receive the employee’s list of documents, request and consider documents on the list. | £657.80 (+£131.56 VAT) | £1,315.60 (+£263.12 VAT) |
| We agree a bundle of documents with the employee that the employment tribunal needs to consider at the hearing. | £657.80 (+£131.56 VAT) | £2,631.20 (+£526.24 VAT) |
| We agree with the employee, a list of issues, a chronology and a cast list for the employment tribunal to use at the hearing. | £328.90 (+£65.78 VAT) | £2,631.20 (+£526.24 VAT) |
| We take witness statements from your staff, draft the statements and agree the statements with your witnesses. (Cost indication per statement) |
£2,631.20 (+£526.24 VAT) | £3,946.80 (+£789.36 VAT) |
| We prepare copies of the agreed bundle of documents and provide these to the employee and the employment tribunal. | £657.80 (+£131.56 VAT) | £2,631.20 (+£526.24 VAT) |
| We exchange witness statements with the employee. | £164.45 (+£32.89 VAT) | £328.90 (+£65.78 VAT) |
| We receive and advise on the witness statements provided by the employee. | £328.90 (+£65.78 VAT) | £2,631.20 (+£526.24 VAT) |
| We prepare instructions to the barrister, who will represent you at the hearing. | £328.90 (+£65.78 VAT) | £2,631.2 (+£526.24 VAT) |
| We arrange and attend a conference with the barrister (if required) |
£328.90 (+£65.78 VAT) (phone) |
£1,315.60 (+£263.12 VAT) |
| We attend the employment tribunal hearing with you and the barrister (per day). | £1,644.50 (+£328.90 VAT) (optional) |
£1,644.50 (+£328.90 VAT) |
| We receive the employment tribunal’s judgment and advise you on the implications. | £657.80 (+£131.56 VAT) | £986.70 (+£197.34 VAT) |
| Total | £14,964.95 (+£2,992.99 VAT) |
£46,703.80 (+£9,340.76 VAT) |
We are required by law to identity and verify all companies that we work with. As part of this verification we are also required to identity and verify a number of other types of individuals associated with the company, such as Directors and Beneficial Owners. We will charge £10 plus VAT (£12 in total) per UK Company / Individual that we check. Where a company is located overseas the charge will be £35 plus VAT (£42 in total). More information on the types of individuals we are required to check can be found in our Terms of Business.
In some circumstances you may wish to handle parts of the defence yourself and only have our advice in relation to some of the stages, this can also be arranged, based on your individual needs.
If it is necessary for our lawyer to travel to attend a hearing then we will charge travelling expenses in addition to our legal fee. These will depend on the location and length of the hearing and whether an overnight stay is required. We will discuss this with you at the time.
In addition to our fixed fee for the legal work you may also incur Barrister’s Fees. These will depend entirely on the experience of the advocate and the complexity and needs of your case.
A Barrister will usually be required in cases which reach a final hearing before a tribunal. In simple cases it may only be necessary to have a telephone conference with the Barrister. However, in more complex cases it is not unusual to incur an average fee of £4,000 (+£800 VAT) for briefing a Barrister. This fee would include time to prepare for the hearing also. Daily fees in the region of £2,000 (+£400 VAT) for attending your hearing, which may typically last 1 to 2 days, would also then be charged .
In our FAQ section, you will find important information on
- Key assumptions about the cost of your employment tribunal defence
- Key exclusions from the cost of your employment tribunal defence
- How long will your employment tribunal defence take?
Your claim will be progressed by Lawyers in our Employment Law team whose details can be found in related people below. For the purposes of pricing transparency and legal supervision team leader, Jolyon Berry is supervised by Mary Anne Fedeyko. Sam Welham and Grace Smyth are supervised by Jolyon on Employment matters. Please read their profiles to find out more about the lawyers in our Employment Law team.
Frequently Asked Questions
The fixed fees detailed above assume that
- You will fully engage in the provision of adequate instructions and information
- The documents disclosed by you as relevant to proceedings do not exceed 100 pages
- The documents provided by the claimant do not exceed 100 pages
The following will not be included in our fixed fee. We will let you know as early as possible if any of these are required and provide you with a separate quote.
- Any appeal against a decision by the Employment Tribunal or application for re-consideration
- Any mediation outside of negotiations through ACAS
- Any advocacy, including at hearings. Barristers’ fees will be charged separately
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. If a settlement is reached during pre-claim conciliation, your case is likely to take 6 to 8 weeks. If your claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, your case is likely to take 9 months to a year. 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.
Employment Tribunals have the power to award up to £25,000 for a breach of contract, in excess of £76,000 for unfair dismissal, and unlimited compensation for discrimination.
The risks for employers are further increased because as there is a ‘no cost’ rule that exists in Employment Tribunals. If a claim is unsuccessful, then you are unlikely to be able to recover any of your legal fees from your former employee.
If your business is facing a Tribunal claim, then it can understandably be a stressful experience.
Our Employment Team has extensive experience in defending Tribunal Claims. We will give you advice on your legal position, and an opinion on the likely outcome should the claim reach a contested hearing at the Tribunal.
We will provide pragmatic and commercial advice on whether to settle, or whether you should fight. We will advise on the cost and benefit of settling or fighting the claim, at each stage of the process.
If your claim reaches a trial, then we can arrange for a barrister to provide representation.
If your case is suitable, we can also consider defending your case by charging a series of fixed fees.
Contact our Solicitors in Colchester or Clacton
We’re here to help. Get in touch or contact one of our offices: