Our Fees and Costs

Fees & Costs

Understandably, one of your main concerns when seeking legal advice will be "How much will this cost me?"

This is also very important to me – in the 36 years that I have been a fully qualified Solicitor acting for Employment Law clients I have realised that explaining fees carefully to clients at the outset, and keeping them up to date as matters move forward, ensures that there are no 'nasty surprises' at the end!

I have set out below a summary of our fees options. Please click on the links within each section for more details.

All the work that is done for you will be undertaken by me, Jonathan West. Unlike in other larger firms, your case will be dealt with by me alone, from start to finish.

Free Initial Contact

Whether you contact me initially by phone or e–mail, my first contact with you will always be free of charge, and with no obligation for you to take the matter any further.

After that, the cost to you in terms of fees will depend on whether you are needing General Employment advice, require advice on a Settlement Agreement, or wish to bring a case to an Employment Tribunal for Dismissal or Discrimination.

General Employment Advice

After the initial free contact, I can offer clients an initial 'fixed fee' consultation (either in person in the office or on the phone) for £200 (incl VAT) for up to 1 hour's time. This is usually sufficient time to review your papers, discuss the problem with you and understand the issues, and then answer your questions/give advice as to future steps needed.

For any further advice after the initial fixed-fee consultation, our charges are based at the rate of £130 (+VAT of £26) per 30 mins. Read our Terms of Engagement & Client Care for full details.

Settlement Agreement Advice

The Settlement Agreement ("SA") is a process under which the company pays you £xxx and in return you agree not to bring any legal claims against them in the future. The usual starting point would be for you to e–mail me a copy of your Contract of Employment and the draft SA. I will then review this and phone you to have an initial discussion to cover:

1. Whether the package they are offering you is fair;
2. If so, are there any 'unpleasant' terms in the SA that we would need to try to vary.

The timescale to then conclude the process varies – from eg. between 24–48 hours if there are no changes needed to the agreement, to 7+ days if changes are necessary.

Our fees for this work are calculated at the rate of £130 (+VAT of £26) per 30 mins time – please read our Terms of Engagement & Client Care document for full details. Our 'normal' fees for a simple SA situation when there is no need to go back and negotiate anything of substance are typically approx £400–£500+VAT.

Normally the Company will agree to pay for all (or at least most) of the fees if the SA goes ahead.

Employment Tribunal Claims: No Win - No Fee

After our initial phone free phone contact with you, if it is clear that you have already been dismissed from your job, I can then usually offer clients a free initial consultation for up to 45 mins time, to assess your case and let you know whether we are able to offer you a 'no win – no fee' agreement for your case.

If we can offer this, then the 'no win – no fee' arrangement basically means that we will take up the Tribunal case for you and take all necessary steps for you in the case. If we win the case at Tribunal, or if there is a settlement of the case, our total fees will normally be 35% (inclusive of VAT) of the amount of any money obtained from your former employer. This would only be payable to us when the settlement has been paid.

If however you are not successful in the case and do not recover anything, you will not have to pay us any fees.

Our fact sheet Important Information for Employment Tribunal Claims explains the steps and likely timescales involved in a typical Tribunal Case, the work I will do for you in the case, and how I would go about working with you to try to get the best outcome.

Emplyment Tribunal Claims: Fee Paying

If we cannot offer you a 'no win – no fee' arrangement, or if you would prefer a fee–paying arrangement, then our fees for acting for you in the case will be at our normal rate of £130 (+VAT of £26) per 30 mins time – please read our Terms of Engagement & Client Care document for full details.

Each Tribunal Claim is different, and the time taken can depend on matters such as the complexity of the case, the amount of documentation involved, how many witnesses there are likely to be etc. However, as a guideline for a 'typical' Unfair or Wrongful Dismissal claim, for each main stage of a typical Tribunal case, our likely fees for each stage will be approximately:

1. Getting the case underway at the Tribunal – 3.5 hours’ time = £910+VAT(£182)
2. Dealing with your employer's defence, discussing this with you and dealing with the 'disclosure of documents' stage – 3.5 hours' time = ££910+VAT(£182)
3. Preparing your witness statement(s) – 4.5 hours' time = £1,170+VAT(£234)
4. Reviewing your employer's statements with you and generally preparing for the Tribunal Hearing – 6 hours' time = £1,560+VAT(£312)
5. Attending Tribunal Hearing = £1,500+VAT(£300) per day (a typical simple Unfair or Wrongful Dismissal case generally lasts 1 day)

Our fact sheet Important Information for Employment Tribunal Claims explains the steps and likely timescales involved in a typical Tribunal Case, the work I will do for you in the case, and how I would go about working with you to try to get the best outcome.