For corporate clients – Employment Tribunals (defending claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal)
About this page
We are required by the SRA to provide the following information in relation to IWG’s charges for the services described below, namely corporate clients defending an Employment Tribunal claim for unfair and/or wrongful dismissal only. When you instruct us, our retainer letter will provide more details on the scope of our work and what you can expect. This page is intended only to be an initial guide to our charges for this type of work.
If you would like information about the full range of employment law services we offer and about how we charge for our other services please contact Elizabeth Bartle.
It should be borne in mind that it might be possible to resolve your claim without bringing a claim in the Employment Tribunal. The procedures and costs outlined below cover the situation where it is not possible to reach settlement terms with the employer.
Stages of the Process:
The fees below relate to the following key stages of an Employment Tribunal claim:
- Taking initial instructions, reviewing documentation and advising you on the merits of your defence and the value of any likely awards
- Entering into mandatory pre-claim conciliation to explore whether a settlement can be reached
- Preparing your response to the Tribunal Claim
- Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process
- Considering a schedule of loss and/or preparing a counter-schedule of loss
- Preparing for and attending preliminary hearings
- Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents
- Preparing witness statements
- Instructing expert witnesses and considering their reports and the reports of the claimant’s expert witness
- Preparing bundles of documents
- Reviewing and advising on the claimant’s witness statements
- Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and a witness list
- Preparation and attendance at final hearing, including preparing instructions to a barrister.
How long the Tribunal Claim takes is entirely dependent on the point at which it gets resolved. If a settlement is reached during pre-claim conciliation, the Claim may be resolved within 6 to 8 weeks. However, if the Claim proceeds to a final hearing, the case could take between 6 months to a year. In some cases, claims may take over a year.
Likely Costs
Costs will vary depending on the complexity of your case, as set out below:
| Complexity of Case | Range of costs |
| Simple | £20,000 to £30,000 plus VAT (at 20%) and disbursements |
| Medium | £30,000 to £50,000 plus VAT (at 20%) and disbursements |
| High | £50,000 to over £100,000 plus VAT (at 20%) and disbursements |
Factors which influence the complexity of a claim:
- Defending a claim brought by a litigant in person
- The number of witnesses and the amount of documentation
- Making and defending applications prior to the final hearing – for example where the claimant or the employer fails to disclose relevant documents
- Complex preliminary issues
- Whether expert witnesses are required e.g. from a medical professional
- Allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal (but please note the costs information in this section relates to claims for unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal only)
- Appeals
Disbursements
Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable by us to third parties, such travel costs, copying charges (e.g. for preparing Tribunal bundles), expert witness fees and barrister’s fees. Barrister’s fees may be incurred for preliminary or final hearings and for drafting Tribunal documents (such as your initial claim) providing advice during the course of the Tribunal Claim. Barristers’ fees can range between £150 and £400 (plus VAT at 20%) per hour or £1,250 to £4,000 (plus VAT at 20%) per day for advice, drafting, preparation or attending a hearing, depending on the barrister’s seniority.
People dealing with your work
Elizabeth Bartle, Ben Horack and David Ingram (all partners) have over 55 years between them of providing employment law advice to individuals and businesses. The partners may be supported by junior fee earners with different levels of experience. The work of a junior fee earner is always supervised by a partner.