Employment Tribunal: Business clients

Our costs for defending employment claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal cases:

Estimated Costs for a full employment tribunal case, based on an hourly rate of £348 (inclusive of VAT at 20%).

A straightforward case: £6,612 – £9,396 (inclusive of VAT at 20%)

Medium complexity case: £10,440 – £13,920 (inclusive of VAT at 20%)

High complexity case: £16,008 – £22,620 (inclusive of VAT at 20%)

Our fees cover all of the work in relation to the following key stages of an employment tribunal case:-

Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the documents and advising you initially on the prospects of success.
Entering into a pre-claim conciliation process to explore with the claimant whether a settlement can be reached.
Preparing and delivering a response on your behalf.
Exploring whether there is an opportunity to negotiate a settlement as early as possible.
Considering a schedule of loss and preparing a counter-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 witness statements and preparing a bundle of documents for tribunal.
Reviewing and advising on claimant’s witness statements.
Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or index for the bundle.
Preparation and attendance at the final hearing, including preparing written instructions for a barrister.

These key stages are listed as an indication only. If you do not require us to undertake all of the steps detailed above, we can reduce your fees accordingly. For example, you may wish to handle the claim yourself and only engage us to advise on a specific stage. Please contact us directly for a personal quotation based on your unique requirements.

Extra factors that could increase the complexity of a case and affect the cost:

If it is necessary to make or defend an application to amend your response or to supply further information about an existing claim.
Defending claims that are brought by people representing themselves.
Making or defending a costs application.
Deciding complex issues such as a disability.
The number of witnesses and documents.
If it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim.
Allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal.
There will be an additional charge for attending a tribunal hearing of £1,740 (inclusive of VAT at 20%) per day.

Other additional expenses that you can expect:

Costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees. We will handle the payment of the expenses on your behalf to ensure a smooth process.
Barristers fees are usually estimated between £1,800 to £2,400 (inclusive of VAT at 20%) per day for attending a tribunal hearing, depending on the barrister’s experience.
Our admin fee for customer due diligence of £24 (per client) including VAT at 20%.
Our admin fee for a GB Business Report and Business Sanctions Check of £24 (per check) including VAT at 20%.

How long will my matter 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 4 – 6 weeks.

If your claim proceeds to a final hearing your case is likely to take 12 – 27 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 as the matter progresses.

* Last updated July 2024.