SRA Price Transparency Statement

Biographies of our lawyers who undertake such work are available via the Our People page.

Where we act for employers in defending unfair dismissal and/or wrongful dismissal cases, they are generally complex cases involving a number of the factors set out below. Our range of fees together with the factors that make a case complex are set out below.

• Simple case: £50,000-£100,000 (excluding VAT and disbursements);
• Medium complexity case: £100,000-£200,000 (excluding VAT and disbursements);
• High complexity case: £200,000-£1m (excluding VAT and disbursements).

Factors that could make a case more complex include:

• If it is necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim;
• The claimant was employed in a regulated sector;
• Defending claims that are brought by litigants in person;
• Making or defending a costs application;
• Complex preliminary issues such as whether the claimant is disabled (if this is not agreed by the parties);
• The number of witnesses and documents;
• If it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim e.g. if the claimant was dismissed after whistleblowing; and
• Allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal.

There will be an additional charge for attending an employment tribunal hearing of up to £5,000.00 per day (excluding VAT) depending on the level of seniority of the lawyer attending. A case can take anything between 2-10 days depending on its complexity.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to the matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees.  All disbursements are excluding VAT.  We handle the payment of the disbursements to ensure a smoother process.

Counsel's fees can cost between £5,000 to £15,000 per day (depending on experience of the advocate) for attending an employment tribunal hearing (including preparation).

VAT

All legal fees and disbursements incurred by UK fee earners working on UK matters would be subject to applicable standard VAT at the prevailing rate which, as at April 2022 is 20%.

Key stages

The fees set out above cover all of the work in relation to the following key stages of a claim:

1. Taking initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising on merits and likely compensation (this is likely to be revisited throughout the matter and subject to change);
2. Entering into pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached; 
3. Preparing a response to the claim(s); 
4. Reviewing and advising on the response from the other party; 
5. Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process; 
6. Considering the schedule of loss; 
7. Preparing for (and attending) preliminary hearing(s); 
8. Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents; 
9. Taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses; 
10. Preparing bundle of documents; 
11. Reviewing and advising on the other party's witness statements; 
12. Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list; and 
13. 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.

Should you require further information regarding our costs please contact the Employment Team.

How long will my matter take?

The time that it takes from taking initial instructions to the final resolution depends largely on the stage at which the case is resolved. If the claim proceeds to a final hearing, the case is likely to take anything up to one year. This is just an estimate and we will be able to give more accurate timescales once we have more information and as the matter progresses.

Complaints

Our UK complaints policy can be found here.