Claimant cases (acting for an individual)

Our standard approach to pricing is to use an hourly fee rate.  For some cases we may be able to offer fixed-price options as well – we can tell you more about this once we have reviewed your claim.

For 2023 our hourly fee rates for claimants are £275-315 + VAT per hour, depending on the seniority of the lawyer.  These prices represent a significant discount on our standard fee rates.

These fee rates cover all our work in handling a Tribunal case for you.  The total cost of any claim will depend on a range of factors, particularly how long it takes us and how complex the work is.  For this reason, we can only provide you with average costs.

Our average range of prices for a claimant who is bringing a claim, where the case goes all the way to a main hearing (trial), is as follows:

• Simple case: £15,000 to £25,000 + VAT
• Medium complexity case: £20,000 to £30,000 + VAT
• High complexity case (discrimination and whistleblowing cases will usually be “high complexity”): £30,000 to £50,000 + VAT

The services and work covered by these ranges of average price are listed further down this page under ‘Key Stages of a Case’.

Please note that these are average costs and they apply to cases where the case goes all the way to a main hearing (trial).

In actual fact, only around 5% of the cases we are involved with get anywhere near a main hearing.  This is because we are expert in helping our clients to agree a settlement of the claim long before that – and for an amount of money that they are satisfied with.  So if your case concludes earlier than a main hearing (which is likely) then your likely cost will be considerably lower than these average ranges.

Information on what adds to the complexity of a claim, and therefore its cost, can be found further down this page.

In addition to these costs, if the case gets as far as the main hearing you may choose* to be represented in the hearing by a solicitor or barrister.  If you do so, there will be Advocacy fees payable for this representation.  Advocacy costs tend to range from £1,850 to £2,750 + VAT per full day (depending on seniority and qualifications of the advocate and amount of daily preparation work required before and after each day in the Tribunal).  If a barrister is representing you, you may also need to meet with them before the hearing to help them prepare for it (a case conference) which has an average range of cost of £700 to £2,500 + VAT, depending on how long the case conference takes and how much additional work the barrister needs to do in preparation for it.

*If you choose not to be represented by a solicitor or barrister we can still support you and provide mentoring and direction to allow you to represent yourself.

Key stages of a case

The fees set out above cover all of our work for you in relation to the following key stages of an Employment Tribunal claim:

• Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on the merits of the case and the likely compensation if the claim were to succeed (this is likely to be reviewed throughout the case and therefore subject to change).
• The pre-claim conciliation process with ACAS.
• Preparing (for a claimant) the claim form which outlines the case and the nature of the dispute or (for a respondent) preparing the response/defence to a claim, including the document that sets out the factual detail of the claim and the legal basis for it.
• Reviewing and advising on the claim and the employer’s response to it.
• Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the case, including preparing or considering a schedule of loss, drafting ‘without prejudice’ correspondence and reviewing/amending/drafting any settlement agreement or ACAS COT3 agreement.
• Preparing for (and attending) any Preliminary Hearing(s) that are required.
• Exchanging documents (disclosure) with the other side, reviewing all these disclosure documents and preparing and agreeing which ones should go into the hearing ‘bundle’.
• Taking witness statements and agreeing their content with witnesses.
• Reviewing and advising you on the other side’s witness statements.
• Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or ‘cast list’ of relevant people.
• Providing instructions (brief) to the barrister representing you (if any) and meeting with them before the main hearing.
• Preparation for, and attendance at, the main hearing.
• Correspondence with the other side in the case from start to finish in respect of a wide range of issues that may be required, including (amongst other things) any settlement discussions, disclosure of documents, exchange of witness statements, costs, applications relating to preliminary points that may need to be decided before the main hearing.
• Receiving the Tribunal’s judgment and advising you on what it has decided.

The stages set out above are an indication of the likely stages of a case that goes all the way to the main hearing.  Keep in mind that only around 5% of our cases get as far as the main hearing because a settlement is reached beforehand.  If any of the stages listed above are not required, the total cost to you will obviously be less.

You may wish to handle the claim yourself and only take our advice in relation to some of the stages. This can be arranged according to your individual needs.