Costs for Employment Litigation in the UK
As of 6 December 2018, new compliance rules require us to give information on price transparency for our services relating to defending claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal in UK Tribunals. iGlobal Law does not advise claimants.
For advising Employers defending unfair dismissal or wrongful dismissal claims before a UK Employment Tribunal total charges typically range from £35,000 to £60,000 (including Counsel costs and general expenses but excluding VAT at 20%).
For complex or unusual claims we may charge fees that are higher than the top of the above range.
Factors that may result in a claim being more complex or unusual include but are not limited to where:
- the client requires a high degree of advice, care or attention;
- the claim is factually complex or document-heavy;
- the claim falls within one of the categories of automatically unfair dismissal e.g. whistleblowing;
- the claim is combined with other legal claims, such as discrimination;
- a number of preliminary hearings are required;
- unexpected delays or postponements occur;
- the conduct of the claim by another party is unusual or unreasonable; or
- the claimant is representing himself or herself or does not have a legally-qualified representative.
General
The cost range set out above is based on hourly charge rates of from £160 to £475 per hour (plus VAT at 20%), depending on the experience of the fee-earner involved. They include advice on the typical stages of a claim:
- taking initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising on the merits of the claim and likely compensation;
- entering into pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached;
- preparing the claim response;
- reviewing and advising on the claim or response from other party;
- preparing or considering a schedule of loss;
- preparing for (and attending) one Preliminary Hearing and instructing Counsel to appear;
- exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents;
- taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses; preparing bundle of documents;
- reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements;
- agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list; and
- preparation and attendance at the Final Hearing, including preparing instructions to Counsel.
They do not include advice on other stages of, or events during or related to, a claim, for example: applications for specific disclosure; data subject access requests; applications for costs or costs assessments; advice on negotiating settlement or entering into a settlement agreement; any appeals or applications for the review or reconsideration of any decision; travel and accommodation expenses.
The timescale for each claim will depend on a number of factors including Orders made by the Tribunal and the nature of the claim. Typically, a Tribunal claim will take 6 to 12 months to complete but this is highly dependent on the caseload of the Tribunal system at the time.
Who will advise you?
Your work may primarily be carried out by iGlobal Law solicitors, trainee lawyers or paralegals under Director supervision. Please see the profiles of the iGlobal team for their respective levels of experience.