Unfair or Wrongful Dismissal Fees

Legal Costs For Unfair Dismissal Or Wrongful Dismissal Cases

For all employment cases we provide an initial consultation (charge based on time spent at our hourly rate of £275 plus 20% vat), after which we can provide a detailed estimate of any further costs involved in your particular case.

The work will be conducted by our senior solicitor and partner, Jenny Carpenter who has 20 + years of advising and representing clients in employment law related matters.

The table below gives you an estimation of our likely fees:-

	Formal letter to former employer	ET1 claim form to issue proceedings.(the claim form outlining your case and the nature of the dispute)	Responding to claim on behalf of employer	Preparation for fully contested hearing **
Wrongful Dismissal	£300 plus 20% VAT	£750 plus 20% VAT	£700 plus 20% VAT	£1,850 to £3,500 plus 20% VAT
Unfair Dismissal	£450 plus 20% VAT	£950 plus 20% VAT	£850 plus 20% VAT	£2,500 to £5,000 plus 20% VAT

**The preparation that is necessary is by way of complying with the Employment Tribunal’s directions relating to disclosure of documents and the taking of detailed witness statements from all relevant witnesses relied upon in the case. Therefore, the amount of time necessary in each case will differ, particularly in light of the number of witnesses. Approximately 1.5 hours per witness is likely to be required in addition to complying with the other directions.

An additional fee will be payable for an interim application within the proceedings being made and/or Preliminary Hearings and the preparation for those hearings. A fee quote will be provided upon the case being listed, or application being made.

This table does not apply to cases where there are any other claims or allegations other than wrongful/unfair dismissals (for example, any type of unlawful discrimination) which would give rise to additional costs, and we would give a separate fee estimate for such cases.

The majority of all work in an employment case will be charged to you on an hourly basis. Jenny Carpenter’s current hourly rate is £275 plus 20% VAT. We will provide you with regular updates on the likely time to be spent on your matter and the time scales to the conclusion of the matter. There are occasions where we can agree to represent you at an Employment Tribunal hearing for a fixed fee. However, such fees will be quoted once the case has been listed for hearing by the Tribunal, and therefore the length and location of the hearing is known.

You may have other funding options available to you, such as cover under an insurance policy. We will check this with you at your first appointment.

Once an Employment Tribunal claim has been issued on average it takes approximately one year for that claim to be heard, depending on how many days are required for the case to be heard. If a settlement is reached early, for example at the pre-claim conciliation, the total time period may be reduced. As the matter progresses we will be able to give you a more accurate timescale.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smooth process.

This may include Counsel fees where it is necessary to use Counsel (a barrister) to represent you at a tribunal. Counsel fees are estimated between £1,000 plus 20% VAT and £3,000 plus 20% VAT per day for attending a tribunal hearing (including preparation time).

Depending on the nature of the claim it may be necessary to obtain expert reports, such as medical reports. If this is necessary the full cost would be discussed and agreed before being incurred.

Key stages

The fees set out above cover all of the work 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 (this is likely to be revisited throughout the matter and subject to change)

· Entering into a pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached

· Preparing a claim or a response

· Reviewing and advising on a claim or response from the other party

· Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process

· Preparing or considering a schedule of loss

· Preparing for (and attending) a Preliminary Hearing

· Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents

· Taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses

· Preparing the bundle of documents

· Reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements

· Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list

· Preparation and attendance at the Final Hearing, including instructions to Counsel

The stages set out above are an indication and if some of the stages above are not required, the fee will be adjusted. You may wish to handle the claim yourself and only have our advice in relation to some of the stages. This can be arranged to your individual needs.

Useful questions and answers.

What is wrongful dismissal?
This happens when an employer breaks the terms stated in the employment contract while dismissing an employee.

What is unfair dismissal?
Unfair dismissal is when an employer fires an employee without a fair reason to do so.

Who is the claimant?
The claimant is the person making the claim for wrongful or unfair dismissal (eg the employee)

Who is the respondent?
The respondent is the person or organisation that the claim is made against (eg the employer)

What is a fully contested hearing?
This is a court hearing that held when the people involved in a case cannot reach agreement on what should happen. It may be that the parties cannot agree on the facts or the law. The court will hear evidence from the parties. It may also hear from experts who are there to provide the court with expert opinion.

What is the ET1 claim form?
The ET1 claim form is the form you must complete to start your claim with the Employment Tribunal

What is the Employment Tribunal?
The employment tribunal (ET) is a public judicial body used to resolve workplace disputes.

What are preliminary hearings at an Employment Tribunal?
The Preliminary Hearing helps the Employment Judge to comprehend what your case is all about and to begin to give your case some shape and structure. Preliminary hearings are not always necessary for simple claims but will often be required for discrimination, whistleblowing and complex unfair dismissal claims.

What is an interim application within a hearing?
You may need to make an interim application if you need to amend your claim, or rely on witness or expert evidence which has not already been authorised by the court, or if you want the court to make the other side do something, such as show you copies of documents which they are refusing to disclose.