We can provide advice on employment contracts, claims for wrongful or constructive dismissal, redundancy, discrimination on the grounds of sex, race, disability, age, religious belief or sexual orientation, unlawful deduction, compromise agreements and more.
If you are involved in a dispute consult our qualified and experienced employment lawyers.
Platt & Fishwick Solicitor's dedicated team provide assistance and guidance including written representation for employees at disciplinary hearings and grievance procedures held by employers. Platt & Fishwick take pride in resolving issues, avoiding the need for litigation where possible.
We have broad experience in employment law matters and provide general representation for both employees and employers, including representation in mediations and litigation. We are willing to discuss fixed fees for a case, or one or more of the key stages set out below, depending upon the particular circumstances of the matter.
Price and service information is set out below.
Employment Tribunals (bringing or defending claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal and other claims)
All Employment Tribunal work is undertaken by Mark Richardson (a Partner with over 30 years' experience) and our pricing is based on an hourly rate of £185 (excluding VAT - currently 20%) for all work done upon the various aspects of the case.
No two cases are the same and it is therefore difficult to provide precise costings in advance of any given case.
However, guideline figures are:-
| A simple case | £3,000 (excluding VAT) |
| A medium complexity case | £5,000-£7,000 (excluding VAT) |
| A high complexity case | £10,000-£15,000 (excluding VAT) |
Factors that could make a case more complex:-
Disbursements
Disbursements are fees that must be paid to third parties as the case progresses.
At the moment, no fees are payable to the Employment Tribunal in respect of claims made to it.
Other fees might be payable depending upon the nature of the case. For instance, a doctor's report might be necessary which might cost £100-£200.
We may recommend a Barrister is instructed to appear at the final hearing. Barrister's fees are estimated at £1,000-£2,000 for the first day of any hearing (excluding VAT) including preparation and depending upon the experience of the Barrister selected. The fee for further days after the first day is usually 50%-66% of the first day figure.
When acting for Claimants, we are prepared to consider acting upon a Contingency Fee ("no win no fee") Agreement, more popularly known as a "no win no fee" agreement. Under such an agreement, we make no charge unless and until we recover compensation, either at a final hearing or by way of a settlement. Our charges are then usually between 25% and a maximum of 33% of compensation recovered (inclusive of VAT). In relation to such agreements:
• We offer a free initial assessment appointment. At this initial appointment, we can consider other funding options that might be available such as cover under an insurance policy
• We will give you the best possible idea we can at the end of that consultation as to whether we would then be prepared to act on such a basis
• If there is any significant documentation to consider, we may then suggest a fee for assessing the viability of a claim which might vary from £200 in a relatively straightforward matter to £1,000 if documentation is extensive (excluding VAT)
Contingency Fee Agreements are generally not available to clients who are defending a Tribunal claim.
Key Stages
The fees set out above cover all of the work in relation to the following key stages of a claim:
• Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers, and advising you on merits and likely compensation (this is likely to be revisited throughout the matter and subject to change)
• Entering into pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached
• Preparing claim or response
• Reviewing and advising on claim or response from other party
• Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process preparing or considering a 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 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
• Preparation and attendance at Final Hearing, including instructions to Counsel
The stages set out above are an indication and if some of 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.
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 6-8 months. This will be longer in a complex case as mentioned above. 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.