Employment Law Pricing

Our employment solicitors can advise you on all aspects of employment law.

It is important that you know about our pricing before we start work for you. There are different ways to get you specialist employment law advice without worrying about the cost.

Initial consultation 

We offer a 1 hour initial consultation (£240.00 plus VAT).  The fixed fee consultation is important for us to understand your case and advise you as to the merits of pursuing the matter and the prospects for success, with an estimate of the costs that will be incurred.

Hourly Charge Rate 

Depending on your circumstances, you might be offered hourly rate funding. This might be for full representation all the way up to an Employment Tribunal hearing or might be for specific assistance, for example, advising and assisting through a redundancy process.

If you decide to instruct your Employment Solicitor using this arrangement, you will only pay for the work actually done on your matter. Often, your Employment Solicitor will be able to offer a capped fee arrangement which means you know the absolute maximum you will pay. Capped fees offer greater security as you might well pay less than the cap, but you will never pay more.

Our hourly rate ranges from £180.00 plus Vat to £240.00 plus Vat and is dependant upon the experience of the solicitor involved.

Fixed Fee

If fixed fees are required, we can provide and estimate once we understand the case and are able to define and agree the specific work you require us to carry out.

As a basic guide:

Simple case: £2,000.00 – ££5,000.00 (excluding VAT)

Medium complexity case: £5,000.00 – £10,000.00 (excluding VAT)

High Complexity case: £10,000.00 – £50,000.00 (excluding VAT)

Where my fixed fee maybe higher

Where factors exist with your matter that may result in additional work, such as the need for a higher degree of attention, care, mitigation, representations, etc… this will be indicative of the hours we will need to spend on your case and may result in higher fees being charged in accordance with our hourly charge rate mentioned above.

Sometimes we can fix fees for specific stages of the case or claim. Stages and costs include:

Wrongful dismissal (which is a claim for notice or pay in lieu of notice)

  • Providing brief advice and assistance with drafting a letter and dealing with a response. We an estimate up to 2 hours work costing £400 plus VAT.

Unfair dismissal

  • Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on merits and likely compensation. 4-8 hours, £800 – £1,600 plus VAT.
  • Preparing claim or response– 7 – 8 hours, £1,400 – £1,600 plus VAT.
  • Reviewing and advising on claim or response from other side – approx. 2 hours £400 plus VAT.
  • Negotiating a settlement – 1 – 3 hours £200 to £600 plus VAT hours depending upon whether or not the other side wish to engage in settlement discussions.
  • Appointing and briefing a barrister to represent at a preliminary hearing (if applicable) 2 – 4 hours, £400-£800 plus VAT.
  • Drafting statement of loss – 1- 2 hours £200 – £400 plus VAT.
  • Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents, 2 to 8 hours £400 to £1600 plus VAT.
  • Assisting with preparation of witness statement between 4 and 15 hours – depending upon how much assistance/input is required £800 – £3,000 plus VAT.
  • Reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements 2 – 4 hours depending upon how much assistance/input is required £400 – £800 plus VAT.
  • Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list 1 hour – £200 plus VAT.
  • Arranging Conference with Counsel and drafting brief to Counsel – 1-2 hours – £200 – £400 plus VAT
  • Attending Conference with Counsel with client 2 – 4 hours £200 – £800 plus VAT.
  • Attending on the client whether in person, on the phone or via email/letter throughout the matter, corresponding with the ET, the client and the opponent 4 hours – 10 hours  £800 – 2,000 plus VAT.
  • Preparation for representation at the final hearing will range between £800,00 – £2,000.00 plus VAT.

Disbursements 

These are fees or expenses paid to third parties. There are currently no court fees payable to issue a claim. There are no fees payable to the Employment Tribunal.

Expenses or fees payable during your case may include expert witness reports, courier services payment to another for photocopying, barrister’s fees.

Barristers fees range widely, depending on their experience.For a one day hearing fees range between £850 – £1,500 plus VAT, for a 3 day hearing – day one £3,500 plus VAT plus £850 plus VAT each day for days 2 and 3.

Costs awarded 

The winner in an Employment Tribunal case is not usually awarded their costs to be paid by the other-side. The general rule is that each party bears their own cost. If a party has behaved extremely badly during the conduct of their case, then costs may be awarded against them.

The stages set out above are only an indication and if some of the stages above are not required, the fee will be reduced. 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 on your individual needs.

How long will my case take

The time that it takes from taking your initial instructions to the final resolution of your matter depends largely on the stage at which your case is resolved. If a settlement is reached during pre-claim conciliation, your case is likely to take 3 – 6 weeks. If your claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, your case is likely to take between 26 and 52 weeks. This is just an estimate and we will of course be able to give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information and as the matter progresses.

VAT

VAT will be charged at the current prevailing rate which at present is 20%.

Settlement agreements

When you are looking for a solicitor because you have been offered a settlement agreement, generally your employer pays a contribution to your legal fees– usually between £250 and £500 plus VAT.

If we exceed their contribution towards costs, we won’t ask you to pay the balance

Who is responsible for my case

The work will be undertaken by either Sami Sofi who is a solicitor with post qualification experience in this field of over 5 years or Adam Sofi who is also a solicitor and the principal of this firm with post qualification experience in this field of over 15 years.