Court claims

These costs apply where your claim is in relation to an unpaid invoice owed by a business which is not disputed and enforcement action is not needed. If the other party disputes your claim at any point, we will discuss any further work required and provide you with revised advice about costs if necessary, which could be on a fixed fee (e.g. if a one-off letter is required), or an hourly rate if more extensive work is needed.

Debt value	Court fee	Our fee based on hourly rates of £210 (excluding VAT at 20%)
Up to £5,000	£35-£205	£1,500-£3,000
£5,001–£10,000	£455	£4,000-£7,000
£10,001— £100,000	0.5% value of the claim up to a maximum £10,000	£5,000-£10,000

Anyone wishing to proceed with a claim should note that:

• the VAT element of our fee is charged at 20% and cannot be reclaimed from your debtor;
• interest and compensation may take the debt into a higher banding, with a higher cost;
• the costs quoted above are not for matters where enforcement action, such as the bailiff, is needed to collect your debt.
• The main factor which will affect the level of fees charged will be the amount of documents involved and the clarity, amount and speed of instructions received from you.

Our fee includes:

• taking your instructions and reviewing documentation;
• sending a letter before action;
• receiving payment and sending onto you, or if the debt is not paid, drafting and issuing claim;
• where no Acknowledgement of Service or Defence is received, applying to the court to enter Judgement in default;
• when Judgement in default is received, write to the other side to request payment;
• if payment is not received within 7 days, providing you with advice on next steps and likely costs.

Matters usually take 3-6 months from receipt of instructions from you to receipt of payment from the other side, depending on whether or not it is necessary to issue a claim. This is on the basis that the other side pays promptly on receipt of Judgement in default. If enforcement action is needed, the matter will take longer to resolve.

Experience

Our team has over 17 years of collective experience in delivering high quality debt recovery work for businesses. The fee earner dealing with your matter shall be supervised by either the Partner and Head of Department, Amy Cusworth, or Managing Partner, Richard Sheppard.

Our pricing for bringing and defending employment claims

No claim is exactly the same and our fees will reflect the particular requirements of your claim or defence. Of course if unexpected complications arise we will always inform you as soon as possible, and would fully discuss the potential consequences of that, before any extra charges were incurred.

Please note there may be other funding options available to cover your claim, such as an insurance policy. We will go through this with you should you wish, at our first appointment.

Our costs for dealing with bringing and defending claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal can range:

Simple case: £10,000-£15,000 (excluding VAT at 20%)

Medium complexity case: £15,000-£20,000 (excluding VAT at 20%)

High complexity case: £20,000-£25,000 (excluding VAT at 20%)

Time is charged on an hourly rate basis of £160 – £210 (plus VAT at 20%) depending on the level of experience of the person carrying out work in relation to your case.

Factors that could make a case more complex:

• if it is necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims or to provide information about an existing claim;
• defending claims that are brought by litigants in person (i.e. people representing themselves);
• making or defending a costs application;
• complex preliminary issues such as whether the client is disabled (if this is not agreed by the parties);
• the number of witnesses and documents;
• if it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim, eg if you are dismissed after blowing the whistle on your employer;
• allegations of discrimination or other claims which are linked to the dismissal.

There will generally be an additional charge for attending a Tribunal hearing of £700-£1,250 per day (excluding VAT at 20%). Generally, we would allow 1-2 days, depending on the complexity of your case.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

Counsel’s fees estimated between £1,500-£2,000 plus VAT at 20% per day (depending on experience of the advocate) for attending a Tribunal Hearing (including preparation). Counsel’s fees for preparing Particulars of Claims or Responses are estimated at £1,000-£3,000 plus VAT at 20% dependent on experience and the number of issues to be covered/dealt with.

Key stages

The fees set out above cover all of the work in relation to the 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 through Acas where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached;
• preparing a claim form or response to a claim;
• reviewing and advising on claim or response from other party;
• exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process;
• preparing for and 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;
• reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements;
• agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list of people involved in a case;
• preparation and attendance at Final Hearing, including instructions to Counsel.

The stages set out above are an indication and if some of the 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.

How long will my application 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 12-16 weeks from dismissal/instrucrions. If your claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, your case is likely to take 52-104 weeks. 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.

Experience

Our team has over 17 years of collective experience in delivering high quality work in all matters relating to employment claims, for both employee and employer. The team has particular expertise in assessing employment matters from both a legal and HR perspective, having legal and CIPD qualification.  Regardless of who works on your matter they will be supervised by either the Partner and Head of the Dispute Resolution Department, Amy Cusworth, or the Managing Partner, Richard Sheppard.