Employment advice – employers and employees
We offer a number of pricing solutions on employment matters subject to the nature of a case and the complexity of the matter.
You may already benefit from ‘legal expense insurance’ that may cover some or all of the costs that will need to be incurred. We will check this with you at our initial appointment and advise you further should that appear to be the case.
If you do not benefit from such insurance, our costs are calculated on the basis of how long we spend dealing with your matter which, by its very nature, is difficult to predict at the outset.
Solicitors costs
Costs will vary from matter to matter depending on the nature and complexity of a dispute, the instructions you give to us and the work that you wish for us to carry out and the speed with which we are able to bring about a resolution of the dispute.
Factors outside of our control will often have a material impact on the work that we carry out and the speed with which we can bring your case to a conclusion. Factors that affect time taken and complexity may include;
- The stage at which we are instructed – if we are instructed some way into a dispute then it will be necessary to carefully consider the documentation relating to past progress before providing you with advice and that can be time-consuming in the first instance;
- The nature of a dispute;
- The number of parties involved in a dispute;
- The extent of the allegations being made by an employee in relation to the dispute;
- Whether witness evidence is necessary and, if so, the number of witnesses who have to give evidence;
- The approach taken by the other party/parties involved in your dispute and whether they are a litigant in person;
- Whether tribunal proceedings are necessary;
- Whether any applications are made during the course of the tribunal proceedings;
- The willingness of either side to take part in ‘Alternative Dispute Resolution’ (ADR);
- Whether Counsel will be required to carry out any of the work necessary to conclude the claim;
- The extent of your communication you require with ourselves during the course of the case – extensive communication will always be more time consuming than communication that is limited to that which is strictly necessary to the case. We are always happy to discuss any concerns but emphasise the impact this can have in terms of time scales and costs.
We will take initial instructions and, based on the information provided, we will provide an estimate of the likely costs in addition to any ‘disbursements’ (see below) that we anticipate you will need to incur. That estimate will be reviewed periodically as the case progresses, as and when material factors require us to revise the estimate. At the same time as providing the initial estimate, we will advise you on how long your matter is likely to take.
Once work has commenced, we will bill you on a periodic basis so that you are kept up to date on the costs incurred and will inform you as soon as possible should our overall estimate as to the likely costs need to be revised.
The cost of us advising you in a claim before the Tribunal are based on an hourly rate of between £185.00 and £285.00 (£222.00 to £342.00 inc VAT), depending on the fee earner dealing with the work. Your case will be allocated to a person with the suitable professional experience to conduct your matter. For information on the experience and qualifications of our fee earners please see the Our Team page.
The anticipated fees involved in, for example, an unfair dismissal claim, based on the complexity of the matter, are as follows:
- simple case: £5,000.00 – £12,000.00 (£6,000.00 – £14,400.00 inc VAT)
- medium case: £12,000.00 – £21,000.00 (£14,400.00 – £25,200.00 inc VAT)
- complicated case: £21,000.00 – £30,000.00 (£25,200.00 – £36,000.00 inc VAT)
These are estimates only. Many cases can be settled within a few weeks or even very shortly after we are first instructed, and so the fees are often limited. That is very unpredictable and negotiations can of course take longer and, in some cases where we are entering into negotiations, those negotiations can go on for months. This is something which is not in our control as it will largely be governed by how quickly your employer/their representative responds to communications.
Disbursements
‘Disbursements’ are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties and not to ourselves. Those disbursements which are not included in our fees may include;
- Fees for obtaining formal reports from experts or fees for incurring advice from experts;
- Translators’ fees;
- Interpreters’ fees;
- Counsel’s fees for attending hearings or drafting documents if required
- Credit agency search fees;
- Process handlers’ fees;
- Fees associated with any significant administrative work such as photocopying fees or courier’s fees;
If a final hearing is attended then advocacy will be provided by a Barrister. We would expect Barrister’s fees to be £1,500.00 – £3,000.00 (£1,800.00 – £3,600.00 inc VAT) per day. A Barrister may be required to advise on the merits of your claim at an earlier state. While it would be necessary to obtain a fee estimate before instructing a Barrister, we would expect the Barrister’s fees for advising on the merits of a claim to be in the region of £1,500.00 (£1,800.00 inc VAT).
The service provided
CVC offer a comprehensive service to our clients which will include the following key stages of a claim:
- Taking initial instructions, reviewing documentation and advising you;
- Preparing a claim;
- Reviewing and advising on the response from the other party;
- Exploring settlement possibilities throughout the claim;
- Preparing or considering a schedule of loss;
- Preparing for a preliminary hearing;
- Exchanging documents with the other party;
- Taking witness statements, drafting and then agreeing them with witnesses;
- Preparing bundles of documents and case summaries for hearings;
- Reviewing and advising on the other party’s evidence;
- Preparing and attending final hearing, including instructing Counsel;
These stages are listed by way of example and, if some of those stages are not included, the fee will be reduced. You may wish for us to simply advise you on some stages of the claim and to handle the majority of it yourself. This can be arranged depending on your individual needs.
Settlement agreements
We charge £250.00 – £750.00 (£300.00 – £900.00 inc VAT) to advise on a settlement agreement, depending on complexity. It is usually the case that an employer will pay the majority if not all of the costs we incur in acting in relation to settlement agreements. We will be able to advise on a more accurate basis, though, once we have discussed the background with you.
Questions
If you could like clarification on any of the points raised or further information please contact us on 01736 362362 or email enquiries@cvc-solicitors.co.uk.
