Overview

Unfair dismissal is one of the most common issues we advise on. However, most of the claims we handle at the Employment Tribunal also involve other issues such as discrimination or whistleblowing. We advise both employees and employers.

Our Team

Our employment team is supervised by Tim Johnson who has over 30 years' experience working in employment law and qualified as a solicitor in 1979. The team is made up of qualified Solicitors (with 1-14 years' experience) and Legal Assistants (with 1-2 years' experience).

Key stages

Many dismissal cases do settle, with very few going all the way to a hearing before an Employment Tribunal. Dismissal cases can settle both prior to any litigation process and during the difference stages of bringing an unfair dismissal claim.

Set out below are the key stages an unfair dismissal case is likely to go through if it is not settled and goes all the way to a hearing. Wrongful dismissal cases are likely to go through the same stages*.

Reviewing the papers and advising you in more detail on merits and likely compensation (this is likely to be revisited throughout the matter and subject to change);
Negotiating with the other side;
Pre-claim conciliation with ACAS if required;
Preparing the grounds of the claim or response to the other side;
Advising on pleadings form the other side;
Further exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process;
The schedule of loss;
Preparing for, and attending, one or more Preliminary Hearings;
Indexing and exchanging documents with the other side and agreeing a bundle of documents;
Preparing witness statements;
Work on preparing the agreed bundle of documents;
Reviewing and advising on the other party's witness statements;
Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list;
Preparing for the final hearing, including instructing counsel and organising conferences where necessary; and
Attending a Final Hearing.

Our fees

If you want advice on a settlement agreement our fees start at £450 plus VAT. If we need to do more than carry out preliminary negotiations to improve the terms of the settlement agreement our fees are likely to be more.

The final cost of our advice will depend on how far you want to pursue your claim and how complex the case is.

We expect that our fees will fall in one of the following ranges**:

Simple cases: £2,000 - £5,000
Medium complexity cases: £5,000 - £20,000
High complexity cases: £20,000 or more

These figures are based on our standard hourly rates which are set out below***:

Principal £400 (plus VAT)
Senior Solicitor £275 (plus VAT)
Solicitor £250 (plus VAT)
Trainee Solicitor £125 (plus VAT)
Paralegal £125 (plus VAT)

Factors that make a case more complex include, but are not restricted to, the following:

Whether the case goes to a hearing or is settled earlier;
Claims which are made in addition to the unfair dismissal or wrongful dismissal claim, for instance claims of discrimination or whistleblowing;
Complex preliminary issues such as whether the case should be struck out; and
The number of witnesses and documents.

If the case goes to a hearing then in addition to our fees you will need to pay a barrister, or “Counsel”, to represent you. Counsel’s fees vary but are likely to amount to £500 to £1,500** a day depending on the seniority and experience of the barrister. You will be charged for all “disbursements” such as this, for instance any expenses which we have to pay to third parties such as court fees, translation costs and the fees of expert witnesses.
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* “Wrongful dismissal” means dismissal in breach of contract. Although a claim may be made for wrongful dismissal in practice in most cases we handle no additional compensation is payable for wrongful dismissal because the loss is the same as the loss for unfair dismissal.

** All these fees exclude VAT.

*** These rates are subject to annual review.