Options for legal fees
We act for Employees and Employers alike and the fees below relate to either an Employee or an Employer.
COSTS FOR ADVISING ON SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS
Where we act for the employee
| Your employer will make a contribution towards your legal fees or pay all of your fees. You will pay for any shortfall less than £500 plus VAT if your employer wishes to contribute to your legal fees especially if we need to give you advice separate from the Settlement agreement. Generally, we do not charge employees any surplus fees to review and advice on the settlement agreement. We will charge you an additional fee where your employer seeks to introduce new restrictive covenants which can affect your future career. Fees would be charged at a reduced hour fee of £200 plus VAT. There will be no additional charge if you refuse further advice regarding restrictive covenants. If we have to correspond or negotiate terms with your Employer or amend your Settlement Agreement (and also advice you on same) then we will charge between £750 – £1800 plus VAT. |
Where we act for the employer
| We charge between £750- £1500 plus VAT to draft a settlement Agreement for employers and to give advice as well. If we have to dialogue with the Employee or their Solicitor then we charge an hourly fee of (£265 – £350) plus VAT. |
Our fees for issuing a claim/ET1 or Defending a claim/ET3 in unfair or wrongful dismissal claims | Simple case: £1000-£3,500 plus VAT. Medium complexity case: £2,500 – £10,000 plus VAT. High complexity case: £10,000 – £25,000 plus VAT. |
FUNDING
Before we take on any case, we always discuss the best way that you can fund your case. Many people have motor and household insurance policies which allows for their legal fees to be paid off by legal expenses insurance. If you have this kind of funding, we will read the terms of that policy and approach your etc
OTHER EMPLOYMENT LAW CASES
We deal with various claims but they majorly centre around Unfair Dismissal, Wrongful Dismissal and Discrimination cases. Except for these two types of claims, we charge hourly fees for work carried out before and after proceedings are brought in court.
We can also offer you a one off 1-hour consultation during which we listen to you and advice you. Except for the one off consultation fee which is reduced, we charge full hourly fees for all other work that we carry out as described below.
REDUCED FEE ONE OFF CONSULTATION FEE
We charge a reduced fee of £200 plus VAT for one off 1-hour consultations when we advise you about the merits of your case. During the consultation we listen to you and give you advice on what you should do in your situation.
We normally charge an hourly fee of up to £350 plus VAT for contentious Employment matters.
We will also consider a number of different costs options like a fixed fee. In some cases, we with enter a No Win no Fee agreement with you (also known as a damaged based agreement). For us to give a No Win no Fee agreement, we assess your case and decide if it has high prospects of success. For a No Win no fee agreement we can charge you 25% (plus VAT on that sum of 20%) of any sum we recover for you.
Sometimes we allow you to pay legal fees by instalments.
UNFAIR DISMISSAL CLAIMS
We usually instruct Counsel to advocate in complex Multi day’s hearings. The Counsel/Barrister’s fee quote will be obtained from chambers and passed on to you before Counsel is instructed. Junior Barristers can charge between £1500 plus VAT for a 1 hour hearing and between £2500- £5,000 plus VAT per a full days hearing. Counsels have hourly fees as well, a Counsel’s year of call to the Bar will determine their hourly fees. You can also ask us to instruct Counsel to draft your ET1 or ET3. For Barrister’s fees, we will need to get a quote before we instruct them to act for you. The Counsel, level of calling, their instruction, fees etc. will be discussed with you before we instruct Counsel.
If we attend the Hearing with Counsel, we will charge £1200 plus VAT for one day hearings or £1,000 plus VAT or less for multiple days hearing which is not unusual in Employment law matters.
For agreed fixed fees, our charges range from £1000 to £3,500 plus VAT to handle your matter from prelitigation state to the stage where we issue proceedings at the Tribunal.
Where you have not charged you fixed fee, no win no fee agreement, we will charge you Delphine Akinsete’s hourly fee as Director of £300 plus VAT. Her support staff’s fees can be found here: https://delphinephilipsolicitors.com/legal-fees-at-hourly-rate/
WRONGFUL DISMISSAL CLAIMS
In Wrongful dismissal claims, the maximum amount that can be awarded to a party is £25,000.osition set out above for unfair dismissal. If the sum claimed is higher than this, the claim would need to be brought in the civil courts, rather than employment tribunal and we would not deal with this as it is more of a litigation issue. We are not including our fees for wrongful dismissal through the courts, because it is not something we would deal with, and so there are no averages or specifics that we can provide.
TIMESCALES FOR CASES OF WRONGFUL DISMISSAL AND UNFAIR DISMISSAL CLAIMS AND ANY OTHER CASE IN COURT
Many cases conclude within 6 months depending on when the court list a case. There are various hearings in the Employment Tribunals. These cases are usually listed by the court to allow the court to case manage the case. It can take up to or more than 6 months for a court to hear your case. We will always let you know if the timescale given to you for 6 months exceeds 6 months.
WHAT MAKES A CASE COMPLEX
Your case is complex if:
- We have to make an application to amend your claim
- We have to make or to defend a costs application
- Where both parties do not agree on a complex issue such as where you claim that you are disabled but the other party contends that you are not
- Where you have numerous witnesses and documents
- Where your case is for an automatic unfair dismissal claim
- Your case is that you have also suffered discrimination
DISBURSEMENTS
Disbursements are third party fees which you have to pay. Disbursements are separate from our legal fees. We do not pay your disbursements.
In some cases, we are able to negotiate a settlement for you before proceedings start in court. You might not have to incur disbursements at this state but in some cases, we will seek an opinion from Counsel before proceedings are brought at court.
If we need to prepare an Et1 claim form or file a Defence (ET3), our fees will be between £1,500- £1,850 plus VAT to prepare and issue the proceedings at the tribunal.
To take your case to the Tribunal until the trial, in simple cases, your fees will be between £6,000 plus VAT. In complex cases your fees will be £15,000 plus VAT.
If your case settles at any point before a final hearing, your fees will be less, depending on when your case settles.
QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
Delphine Akinsete is a qualified solicitor and she possesses extensive experience in employment law. She has over 18 years dealing with Employment law. She has 14 years’ experience as a solicitor.
We use the services of Counsel as advocates especially in complex Multi day’s hearings. The Counsel/Barristers fees will be obtained and passed on to you before Counsel is instructed. Junior Barristers can charge between £1500 for a 1-hour hearing and £5,000 for a full day’s hearing.
You can ask us to instruct Counsel in your matter and we reserve the right to instruct Counsel to attend your matter at court. The Counsel, level of calling, their instruction, fees etc. will be discussed with you before we intercut Counsel.
If we attend the Hearing with Counsel, we will charge £1200 for one day or £1,000 or less for multiple days hearing which is not unusual in Employment law matters.
