Who will deal with my case?
All work in respect of Unfair Dismissal and Wrongful Dismissal Employment Tribunal Claims is carried out by our employment law specialist solicitor Richard Ennis who is based at our Wolverhampton office.
What’s involved in bringing a Claim?
Each claim is different but will normally involve our undertaking the following work on your behalf:
- ACAS Early Conciliation
- Presentation of Claim Form to the Tribunal and receipt of further communication from Tribunal with Directions on how the Parties should prepare
- Receiving and Reviewing the Response Form sent to Tribunal by the Employer
- Send the other side a breakdown of the amount claimed and supporting documents
- Send the other side a list of relevant documents and any copies and receive a list and copies from them
- Agree a set of the relevant documents for use at the Hearing
- Send to the other side written statements of any witnesses, including the client, to be used at the Hearing and receive those in return.
- Agree with the other side a written list of the issues to be decided at the Hearing
- Hearing of Claim
How long will it take?
If your case settles through Early Conciliation then typically 4-6 weeks. If its disputed then it will likely be a year before a Judge will be made available to hear the claim. If there is an appeal or an enforcement process after Judgment then this will take further time. We will be able to give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information and as your case progresses
What’s it likely to cost?
We charge an hourly rate for the work we do (currently £220). Routine correspondence and telephone calls of up to 6 minutes are charged at 1/10 of the hourly rate. Travelling and Waiting time has a reduced rate of £110 per hour. Our charges are also subject to VAT which the Government has set at 20%.
Each case is different and so it is impossible to give a precise indication of our likely charges but based on our experience taking a typical case to a final hearing will cost between £3,000 – £6,000. We’d recommend that you get in touch with us for a free preliminary discussion so that we can give you a better idea once we know the details of the claim. These costs don’t cover:
- Any Preliminary Case Management or similar Hearings (for example if there is an issue over time limits or qualifying service.)
- Any application for Reconsideration or Appeal or advice in relation to these.
- Any enforcement action if the other party do not pay following a Judgment.
In most cases it is also sensible to budget £200.00 for any payments which we have to make to others on your behalf (commonly called ‘disbursements’). Examples of disbursements would include travel expenses for witnesses, copying charges and medical report fees – but in cases where specialist reports such as an expert medical report is needed then this could cost £1,000 – £2,000.
In rare cases we may need to instruct a Barrister to advise you about your case or to represent you at a Hearing. The Barrister will charge a fee which we will agree on your behalf. The amount will depend upon the experience and seniority of the person instructed and the complexity of your case. On average a Barrister will charge between £750 and £1500 for an advice and between £1500 and £3000 for representation at a hearing that lasts no more than a day. The fee may attract VAT.
Factors which could make a case less typical and increase the costs, would include the following:-
- Where your opponent is not legally represented
- The case involves allegations of discrimination, whistleblowing or another potentially automatic unfair dismissal
- Medical evidence needs to be obtained and/or there needs to be a preliminary hearing to decide if the Claimant is disabled
- There are a large number of witnesses or a high volume of documents involved in the case
- There are issues about whether the Claim was presented in time
- There is an application by either party for costs
- There is an application to amend the claim or response or further information has to be provided
Do you offer “No win No fee”
Dependant on your case, then we may be able to act for you on a “no win no fee” basis. In such circumstances you have to pay our charges if:-
- Your claim is successful and you are awarded compensation or your opponent agrees to pay compensation; or
- You end the Agreement early; or
- We end the Agreement early because you are in breach of it.
If your claim is successful our fees (and any VAT) will be capped at 33% of the amount of compensation – otherwise our costs are payable in full.
You will have to pay the disbursements whether or not you win the case.
You will have to pay any Barrister’s fees whether or not you win the case unless they have also agreed to act on a “no win no fee” basis.
To set up a meeting with our employment law specialist, please call our Wolverhampton office on 01902 577715 or leave a message for us here or complete the form below to request a callback.