Our quote for the legal work on your potential 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 include VAT (at the current rate of 20%) where applicable.
The quote that we give you will be based on your individual circumstances and will depend on the complexity of your case. The following factors are likely to make your claim more complex:
- If it is necessary to make an application to amend a claim or to provide further information about an existing claim
- Making a costs application
- Complex preliminary issues (if not agreed by the parties)
- The number of witnesses and documents
- If it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim e.g. if you are dismissed after blowing the whistle on your employer
- There are allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal
TSP legal fees for your Employment Tribunal Claim: 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 Claim and given a VAT inclusive fixed fee for each stage ranging from simple to complex.
| Complexity of Case | From Simple (incl VAT) | To Complex (incl VAT) |
|---|---|---|
| We take your initial instructions, review any papers and advise you on the time limits, merits and likely compensation. We will review these as the matter progresses and as we learn more about your case and your employer’s response. | £1,076.40 | £4,305.60 |
| When required, we will contact ACAS, to explore whether you could settle the case before bringing your claim to the tribunal. | £358.80 | £358.80 |
| We prepare the claim and file the claim form with the employment tribunal. | £2,152.80 | £4,305.60 |
| We review and advise on the response that your employer files with the employment tribunal in its defence against your claim. | £717.60 | £1,435.20 |
| We help you to prepare for and attend any preliminary hearing. We deal with any case management orders made by the employment tribunal. | £717.60 | £4,305.60 |
| We consider and advise you on the possible settlement of your case and negotiate any settlement. We will do this throughout the process. | £717.60 | £4,305.60 |
| We prepare a schedule of loss, setting out the compensation that you are claiming. This may need to be updated shortly before the hearing. | £717.60 | £4,305.60 |
| We collect any relevant documents from you, prepare a list of these for the employer and provide the employer with documents they request from the list. | £717.60 | £2,870.40 |
| We receive the employer’s list of documents and request and consider documents on the list. | £717.60 | £1,435.20 |
| We agree a bundle of documents with the employer that the employment tribunal needs to consider at the hearing. | £717.60 | £2,870.40 |
| We agree with the employer, a list of issues, a chronology and a cast list for the employment tribunal to use at the hearing. | £358.80 | £2,870.40 |
| We take a witness statement from you, draft the statement and agree the statement with you. (Cost indication per statement) | £2,870.40 | £4,305.60 |
| We receive and check the agreed bundle of documents, which is usually prepared by the employer. | £179.40 | £1,076.40 |
| We exchange witness statements with the employer. | £179.40 | £358.80 |
| We receive and advise on the witness statements provided by the employer. | £358.80 | £2,870.40 |
| We prepare instructions to the barrister, who will represent you at the hearing. | £358.80 | £2,870.40 |
| We arrange and attend a conference with the barrister (if required) | £358.80 (phone) | £1,435.20 |
| We attend the employment tribunal hearing with you and the barrister (per day). | £1,794 (optional) | £1,794 |
| We receive the employment tribunal’s judgment and advise you on the implications. | £717.60 | £1,076.40 |
| Total | £15,787.70 | £49,155.60 |
We are required by law to verify our client’s identity. We will charge £10 plus VAT (£12 in total) per individual that we check. 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 the claim yourself and only have our advice in relation to some of the stages. This can also be arranged based on your individual needs, and we will quote a fixed fee for the stages that you require us to help with.
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.
Insurance Funding: Many household insurance policies include legal expenses cover. You should look at your insurance policy as soon as you can to see if you have cover. If so, you should make an application as soon as possible. If you delay the insurers may refuse cover. Most insurance funding will not start until the insurance company confirms their acceptance of the case. They will not, normally, backdate any funding.
In addition to our fixed fee for the legal work you may also incur Barrister’s Fees. This charge depends entirely on the experience of the advocate. The level of experience of the Barrister we instruct on your behalf, if necessary, will depend on 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 £4,800 for briefing a Barrister. This fee would include time to prepare for the hearing also. Daily fees in the region of £2,400 for attending your hearing, which may typically last 1 to 2 days, would also then be charged .
In our FAQ section, which you can access by clicking the yellow FAQ tab above related people and related guides below, you will find important information on
- Key assumptions about the cost of your employment tribunal claim
- Key exclusions from the cost of your employment tribunal claim
- How long will your employment tribunal claim 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.
