Unfair and Wrongful Dismissal – Tribunal Claims

There are many types of employment law claims, from unpaid wages (which may often be claimed in the County Court Small Claims Track) to infringement of data protection rights to Tribunal Claims for e.g. age, sex or race discrimination. It is impractical to provide details of likely costs and timescales for dealing with all of them here. We give a range of estimates for a Tribunal claim for unfair / wrongful dismissal below and are happy to advise about costs and timescales for other kinds of employment law claims on request.

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The Claim Process

Progressing Your Claim

The fees set out on this page 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 your chances of winning and likely compensation if you win (this is likely to be revisited throughout the matter and subject to change)
Entering into pre-claim conciliation where this is required to explore whether a settlement can be reached;
Preparing claim
Reviewing and advising on response from other party
Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement at any time throughout the process
Preparing or considering a ’Schedule of Loss’ when required calculating the value of your claim
Preparing for (and attending) a Preliminary Hearing
Exchanging documents with the other party
Taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses
Agreeing and preparing a file of relevant documents for the Tribunal
Reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements
Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list if required by the Tribunal before the Trial
Preparation for Trial, including instructions to Barrister

The stages set out above are an indication and if some of stages above are not required, the fee will be reduced.

How long will my matter take?

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 a month or so from the date we request conciliation. If your claim proceeds to a Trial, your case is likely to take 6 – 9 months. This is just an estimate and we will update you once we have more information and as the matter progresses.

A normal claim tends to be listed for a one-day trial, sometimes with a further hearing subsequently to assess the amount of compensation. If there is also a discrimination claim involved or the case is more complicated, normally two or more days are allowed. If it turns out that more time is needed to hear all the evidence than has been allowed, then it will be necessary to return at a later date to complete it. The Tribunal may give a decision there and then or if they need time to consider send their decision out some days or weeks later in writing.

Pricing Information

Lightfoots Fees

A guide of the likely costs if you instruct us to advise and arrange representation for you in a tribunal claim for unfair or wrongful dismissal is provided below. The fees listed are an estimate only not a binding quotation.

There is no such thing as an average case. Accordingly, after discussing with you the details of your case and what you want to achieve, we will provide you with a written estimate to carry out the work which may differ from the pricing below.

It can be misleading to estimate total costs to take a case all the way to trial, as most cases are resolved before they reach that stage. However, if a case does go all the way to trial, and you require legal representation throughout (which is not compulsory), we estimate our fees as follows:

Simple case: £9,000-£12,000 (excluding VAT)
Medium complexity case: £13,000- £20,000 (excluding VAT)
High complexity case: £21,000 – £30,000 (excluding VAT)

Factors that could make a case more complex:

• If once your claim has been issued it is necessary to apply to amend it to include new information or claims
• Making or defending an application for one side in the case to be ordered to pay the other side’s legal costs. (In Tribunals this is unusual and only allowed in exceptional circumstances)
• Complex preliminary issues such as whether, if the case includes a claim for disability discrimination, the claimant is disabled (if this is not agreed by the parties)
• The number of witnesses and documents
• If it is a Public Interest Disclosure claim e.g. if you are dismissed as a result of reporting illegal conduct by your employer
• Allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal
• If there are grounds to appeal against the Tribunal’s judgment to a higher court

Expenses

We also charge for expenses such as travel or (in disability discrimination cases) a medical report where necessary. In tribunal claims the largest expenses that you may have to pay are likely to be barristers’ fees

Barrister’s fees are estimated between £750 and £2,000 per day (depending on experience on their seniority and experience) for attending a Tribunal Hearing, preparation and advice).

Self-representation

You may wish to handle the claim yourself and only have our advice in relation to some or all the stages. This can also be arranged based on your individual needs. In these cases, our advice is currently normally likely to be charged at £210 (excluding VAT) per hour.