We are duty bound to provide you with certain information regarding the costs of bringing an employment case. These include the following:
- the total cost of the service or, where not practicable, the average cost or range of costs;
It is very difficult to provide you with an accurate fee estimate in respect of any case without first considering the circumstances and reviewing all the documentation. We would normally review your case first before providing you with a fee quote, however we would expect our costs to be in the region of £15,000 - £20,000 should the matter proceed to a fully contested hearing.
- the basis for your charges, including any hourly rates or fixed fees;
We charge on our hourly basis. Our charges are dependent on the fee earner dealing with your case. Scott Birchall is responsible for all employment matters. His hourly rate is £300 plus VAT per hour.
- the experience and qualifications of anyone carrying out the work, and of their supervisors;
Your matter will be dealt with by Scott Birchall. He is a Solicitor and Director at Smooth Commercial Law. He currently has 8 years PQE.
- a description of, and the cost of, any likely disbursements, and where the actual cost of a disbursement is not known, the average cost or range of costs;
If you decide to pursue a case through the employment tribunal there is no fee to start the case. If you want to bring a claim through the courts then there will be a court fee. The amount of the court fee will vary depending upon the value of your claim. In addition we would expect to incur Counsel’s/ Barrister’s fees. Counsel will be instructed to assist with your claim at key stages, such as preparing any grounds of claim or defence and representing you at the trial of the case. These fees are likely to be in the region of £5,000 plus VAT.
- whether any fees or disbursements attract VAT and if so the amount of VAT they attract;
The applicable rate of VAT is 20%.
- details of what services are included in the price displayed, including the key stages of the matter and likely timescales for each stage, and details of any services that might reasonably be expected to be included in the price displayed but are not; and
We will investigate your case (including taking detailed instructions from you and reviewing all of the documentation). We will then advise you of whether you have a good case and whether we can deal with it. We will deal with all pre court/ tribunal correspondence. If proceedings are issued we will then deal with court/ tribunal proceedings on your behalf up to trial. It is very difficult to give you an estimate of time scales but we would estimate between 9 – 12 months from start to finish.
- if you use conditional fee or damages based agreements, the circumstances in which clients may have to make any payments themselves for your services (including from any damages).
If we offer to take your case on a no win no fee arrangement (conditional fee or damages based agreement) there will be no charge for our services if unsuccessful. However if successful we will be entitled to either our base costs plus a % uplift (if we take it on a conditional fee agreement basis) or a % of any damages we recover (if we take it on a damages based fee agreement basis).