Fees for bringing and defending claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal in the employment tribunal

We set out below our estimated range of fees for advising and representing you in bringing or defending claims only for unfair dismissal or wrongful dismissal.  If your case involves other types of claim - for example, discrimination, whistleblowing or TUPE - the costs and potential compensation may be higher. These other types of claim are not covered by the range of costs set out below but we will give you an estimate of costs once we have the details.

We normally base our charges on hourly rates, which vary depending on the seniority and experience of the lawyers who carry out your work. The seniority of the lawyers dealing with your case and their level of day-to-day involvement will depend on its complexity. Our hourly rates range from £265 to £1,250 plus VAT.

We are open to considering alternative fee arrangements, such as fixed fees or capped fees, depending on the nature and complexity of your matter. Please let us know if you would like to consider this further.

You may also have other funding options available, such as legal expenses cover under an insurance policy. If you think you might have such insurance we can discuss this with you when you first instruct us.

Examples of matters that could make a case more complex and expensive include:

• Defending claims that are brought by people who represent themselves without a lawyer, including where they have misused AI in running their case
• Preliminary issues requiring additional hearings (for example, questions relating to employment status, strike-out or deposit order applications and requests for specific disclosure of certain documents)
• Making or defending applications to amend claims or responses, or to provide further information about an existing claim or response
• The number of witnesses and documents, including where there is a large volume of electronic data requiring search and review or where the disclosure process is complex or contested
• The approach and litigation tactics adopted by the other party or their representatives
• The number of days allocated for the final hearing
• Making or defending any costs applications
• Separate remedy hearings
• Tribunal delays and postponements of hearings
• The need for expert evidence (for example expert evidence on pension loss)
• The involvement of jurisdictions or parties outside the UK
• Whether the claim involves a regulated sector (for example, financial services)
• Connected or parallel proceedings, such as related High Court litigation, internal grievance or disciplinary processes, or enquiries from regulators, which may require coordination and increase the complexity of the tribunal claim.

Disbursements are costs for ancillary services related to your matter, typically payable to third parties. We handle the payment of disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

The most significant disbursement is usually Counsel's fees (the fees of the barrister who represents you at a tribunal hearing). The amount will depend on the complexity of the case, the experience of the barrister and the number of days the case is listed for hearing in the tribunal, with fees typically ranging from £1,000 to £17,500 plus VAT per day for attending a hearing (including preparation).

In more complex cases, you may incur costs for e-disclosure facilities (technology services used to search, review and manage large volumes of electronic documents relevant to your case) which can exceed £10,000 plus VAT.

Other common expenses include photocopying charges and courier fees (incurred, for example, when preparing bundles (files of relevant documents) for the employment tribunal hearing) which can typically range from £100 to £7,000 plus VAT.

All fees and costs shown above are exclusive of VAT. VAT will be added where applicable at the required rate (currently 20%).

In the employment tribunal, whether or not they are successful in their litigation, parties typically pay their own costs incurred in the litigation, and don't pay their opponent's costs. However, in some circumstances, the employment tribunal may order one party to pay their opponent's costs. We will advise you about this risk.

The fees set out above cover services in relation to the following key stages of a claim:

• Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on merits and likely compensation (which may need to be revisited throughout as the matter develops)
• Entering into pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory
• Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the litigation
• Preparing the claim or response
• Reviewing and advising on the merits of the claim or response from other party
• Preparing or considering a schedule of loss
• Instructions to and liaising with your barrister
• Preparing for and attending a preliminary hearing
• Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list
• Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents
• Preparing bundle of documents for hearing
• Taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses
• Reviewing and advising on the other party's witness statements
• Preparing for and attending the final hearing.

The stages set out above are an indication, and if some of the stages above are not required, the fee 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 be arranged based on your individual needs.

The fee ranges set out above relate to claims for unfair dismissal or wrongful dismissal only. They do not include our charges or services in relation to:

• Advising or acting in respect of any claims other than unfair dismissal or wrongful dismissal, for example freestanding discrimination or whistleblowing claims, or where the dismissal is by reason of whistleblowing, or in connection with TUPE, or there are allegations of discrimination linked to a dismissal.
• Any appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal or any superior court
• Advising on or participating in any form of mediation (including judicial mediation) or other formal alternative dispute resolution (for example a dispute resolution appointment) – this is separate from the settlement negotiations included in our estimates above.
• Making or responding to any data subject access request
• The work of responding to any enquiries from external regulators in connection with the claim.

From taking your initial instructions to reaching the final resolution can take a varying length of time, depending largely on the stage at which your case is resolved, the conduct of the other party and the employment tribunal's timetable. A case that settles early on may only take four to eight weeks, while a case that proceeds to final hearing can take from six to eighteen months or more. This can depend on the complexity of the case and on the tribunal system, which is currently experiencing significant delays and has a substantial backlog of outstanding cases. Once we have more information, and as a matter progresses, we will be able to give a more accurate timescale.

Biographies, including the experience of our Employment team can be found here.