Price Transparency Information

Price & Service Information

Employment Tribunal Work

We are required to publish information about the price of our Employment Tribunal work and the services you will receive if you instruct us.

This includes information about our fees and any third-party costs (also known as “disbursements”) associated with your matter, as well as information about the stages of a typical matter and the likely timeframes for completing our work.

The figures provided below are not quotes. Costs will vary depending on the complexity of your matter and the claims you are bringing or defending.

We are happy to speak to you about the details of your case so we can provide better estimates of our fees and the likely timeframe.

Please contact our UK employment team for more information about our services.

Our fees

We charge on an hourly basis, so the total fees we charge will depend on the amount of time we spend working on your matter and the experience of the team members involved.

More complex cases will result in higher fees, as they require more time to prepare and may require more senior staff to handle the work.

Typical fee ranges for different levels of complexity are set out below. These figures exclude VAT, which is chargeable at 20%.

  • Simple case: £20,000 – £40,000
  • Medium Complexity case: £40,000 – £80,000
  • High Complexity case: £80,000 – £250,000

A case will tend to more complex if:

  • We need to make or defend an application to amend your claim form (e.g., if there is an error in the form or further information has come to light).
  • We need to deal with preliminary/procedural issues (e.g., whether the claim has been filed within applicable time limits).
  • There are a large number of witnesses or documents.
  • We are defending a claim brought by an individual or company without legal representation (aka a “litigant in person”).

An unrepresented party will be less familiar with the legal process, so the case is likely to take more of the tribunal’s time. We are also under an obligation not to take unfair advantage of the party’s lack of legal representation, so may need to take more time to explain our actions and arguments. 

  • The claim involves complex allegations or questions of law (e.g., safeguarding or whistleblowing complaints).
  • We are making an application for the other party to pay the costs you incur (or defending such an application from the other party).
  • The hearing is likely to take longer than normal.
  • There are associated regulatory issues.

Third-Party Costs (Disbursements)

In addition to the fees above, you will be responsible for all third-party costs associated with your matter.  These may appear in our invoice as disbursements, or we may arrange for third parties to invoice you directly.

The main third-party cost associated with our employment tribunal work is the cost of instructing a barrister (also known as “counsel”), who will represent you in the employment tribunal hearing.

Barristers’ fees can vary widely depending on the barrister’s seniority and experience and the amount of work they undertake.  We can provide a better estimate of their likely fees (and obtain estimates) once we have assessed your case.

For information, barristers tend to charge by way of hourly rates for advising on particular issues or for dealing with certain urgent matters (such as advice on, or dealing with, a potential injunction) and by way of fixed fees for preparing for and attending the first day of the hearing (a “brief fee”) and for subsequent days (a “refresher”).  When used, hourly rates vary widely and can range from, for example, £200 to £600 an hour plus VAT.  Further information is available on most chambers’ websites.

Other typical third-party costs include photocopying fees and courier fees.

Key Stages & Timeline

The fee estimates above are based on a ‘typical’ employment tribunal matter – which may include the following stages:

  • Taking instructions – we will speak to you about the services you require, review your documents, advise you on the merits and financial value of the claim. Where possible, we will consider, at an early stage, the optimum strategy for handling the matter, taking into account your initial objectives.
  • Pre-claim conciliation – this is a mandatory dispute resolution process facilitated by Acas (the publicly funded Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) and involves exploring whether a settlement can be reached before the matter progresses to a hearing.
  • Filing the claim/response – we will prepare your claim / response form and review the other party’s claim / response and prepare documents supporting your case like the schedule of loss (a document setting out the basis for the compensation you are seeking.
  • Preliminary hearings – we will prepare for and attend any preliminary hearings. It may also be appropriate to engage a barrister to represent you at certain preliminary hearings.  These deal with both procedural and substantive issues which the tribunal must assess before the final hearing.
  • Exchanging documents – we will exchange relevant documents with the other party as part of the tribunal’s “disclosure” process, which helps us gather all information relevant to the claim. We will also agree with the other party which documents should be included in the “bundle” of documents submitted to the court.
  • Witness statements – we will interview witnesses, draft their witness statements, and arrange for them to agree the contents. We will also review witness statements prepared by the other party.
  • Bundling documents – before the hearing, we will prepare the folder of documents to be submitted to the tribunal. This is known as the “bundle”. This will include documents which assist the tribunal to establish the facts of the case – e.g., a list of issues, a chronology of events and/or a list of persons involved in the events (aka a “cast list”).
  • Settlement – we will continuously explore the possibility of settling your case and negotiate settlement throughout the process.
  • Final hearing – we will instruct a barrister to represent you in the final hearing, attend “conferences with counsel” to brief them on the issues and help them prepare, and attend the final hearing.

This process can take anything between a few days (if settlement is reached during the pre-claim conciliation process) and upwards of 12 months (if the matter proceeds to a final hearing).

We will be able to provide a more accurate timescale once we have received your instructions, and throughout your matter will keep you informed of factors which may lengthen the process.

Please contact the UK employment team for more information.