At Richard Reed we pride ourselves on providing precise and practical advice to both employees and employers in all matters relating to employment tribunal matters.

On average our fees can range as follows for bringing or defending claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal:

Simple CaseMedium Complexity CaseHigh Complexity Case
Our Net Fees£1,500.00 – £10,000.00£10,001.00 – £20,000.00£20,001.00 – £30,000.00
VAT @ 20%£300.00 – £2,000.00£2,000.20 – £4,000.00£4,000.20 – £6,000.00
Our Total Fees£1,800.00 – £12,000.00£12,001.20 – £24,000.00£24,001.20 – £36,000.00

Factors that could make a case more complex:

  • If it is necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim
  • Defending claims that are brought by litigants in person
  • Making or defending a costs application
  • Complex preliminary issues such as whether an employee 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 an employee is dismissed after blowing the whistle on his/her employer
  • Allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal

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 for the Final Hearing
  • 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.

Counsel (Barrister’s) Fees

Generally, we would instruct a barrister (also known as Counsel) to represent you at a Tribunal hearing.  We will always endeavour to agree the barrister’s fees in advance of the hearing.  We do require money on account of Counsel’s fees.

Barrister’s fees are payable in addition to ours set out above and are dependent on the experience of the Barrister and the complexity of the case. These can range as follows:

 Brief Fee
(covers preparation for the hearing and representation for the first day of the hearing)
Refresher fees
(covers representation for each additional day after the first day of the hearing)
Barrister Net Fees£500.00 – £5,000.00£500.00 – £1,250.00
VAT @ 20%£100.00 – £1,000.00£100.00 – £250.00
Barrister Total Fees£600.00 – £6,000.00£600.00 – £1,500.00

Additional Costs

Additional costs are those related to your matter that are payable to third parties, for example medical experts. We handle the payment of these on your behalf to ensure a smoother process although we do require money on account of all additional third party costs from our clients.

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 four to six weeks. If your claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, your case is likely to take six to twelve months. 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.

Our Experience

Kat Moody is our Employment law/HR Solicitor.  Kat qualified as a solicitor in 2013 and has specialised in this area since 2018.

If you wish to discuss matters in more detail, please contact Kat on 0191 567 0465 or by email [email protected] and she would be more than happy to chat to you and/or arrange an initial appointment with you.

Kat Moody is supervised by Barry Wood, Chartered Legal Executive, Head of Department and Director of the firm.

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