SRA Price Transparency Statement

The SRA Transparency Rules are available on the SRA’s website, available here.

The information below relates to the provision of advice and our representation of employers in relation to defending claims before the Employment Tribunal in England and Wales brought by an employee for unfair dismissal and/or wrongful dismissal. These claims may involve discrimination, whistleblowing and other regulatory or multi-jurisdictional aspects.

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

Range of costs

We charge based on an hourly rate which varies depending on the member of staff dealing with your matter. The seniority of the members of staff dealing with your case will depend on its complexity. We will discuss this with you when you instruct us. Please contact our Employment Team for more specific estimates.

We have set out below our estimated pricing as required by the SRA's Transparency Rules for defending claims for unfair and/ or wrongful dismissal.

• 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;
• The involvement of jurisdictions or parties outside of the UK;
• Complex preliminary issues such as whether the claimant is disabled (if this is not agreed by the parties);
• The number of witnesses and documents;
• The involvement of expert evidence (e.g. medical evidence);
• If it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim e.g. if the claimant was dismissed after whistleblowing; and
• Allegations of discrimination, whistleblowing or regulatory breaches 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, counsel’s fees or those of a medical expert. 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 and seniority of the advocate) for attending an employment tribunal hearing (including preparation). Additional counsel’s fees may also arise for preliminary advice as the case develops and to reflect time spent preparing for the hearing.

The amount of any court fee depends on the nature of the claim and the court in which the claim is being issued. There is no court fee currently required in the Employment Tribunal, but in the County and High Court there will be a fee which is typically 5% of the value of your claim.

Medical expert fees will vary depending on the nature of your claim, the advice required and the amount of work that the expert will be asked to undertake. Any potential medical expert fees will be discussed and agreed with you in advance.

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, is currently 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 a settlement is reached during pre-claim conciliation, your case is likely to take 4-12 weeks. 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.