Simons Rodkin Solicitors Fee Structure

EMPLOYMENT CHARGES AS OF SEPTEMBER 2024

Our employment solicitors cover the whole spectrum of employment law issues, including contentious and non-contentious matters.

We advise individuals and companies  in a wide variety of sectors.

Although we are experienced litigators, and frequently represent clients at employment tribunals and in court, we also offer specialist employment law advice in order to resolve conflict early through alternative dispute resolution.

We also do non contentious work such as preparing employment contracts and handbooks.

We offer expert advice on:

• dismissals and redundancies
• director disputes
• restrictive covenants and protecting confidential information
• disciplinary and grievance procedures
• discrimination
• settlement agreements
• employment contracts and policies
• flexible working and parental leave

OUR FEES

Most of our services are offered on an hourly rate basis, please look at the main costs page to see our current rate.

As many of our clients’ matters are complex and often involve multiple parties, there is rarely a typical case. Our clients are given an estimate of costs after our initial meeting.

A very rough estimate of costs is as follows.

Standard Consultation £200 – £300 plus VAT @ 20%

Simple cases, can cost between £5,000 – £10,000 plus VAT @ 20% and disbursements

More complex cases, can range from £10,000 to £30,000 plus VAT @ 20% and disbursements

Particularly complex cases or where there is an appeal costs can be well in excess of £30,000 plus VAT @ 20% and disbursements.

Factors that could affect complexity:

• How many claims are there e.g. a simple unlawful deduction of wages claim would be much more complicated if there was an unfair/wrongful dismissal or discrimination claim (or both) going on at the same time
• Complex preliminary issues e.g.  whether the claimant is disabled (if this is not agreed by the parties)
• If it is necessary to make or defend additional applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim
• Making or defending a costs application
• The number of witnesses and documents
• Attending a hearing
• An appeal

No win no fee

If you believe your case is appropriate for a No win No fee, then please discuss this with your fee earners at the initial meeting. Please note many cases are not appropriate for a No win No fee and we will not be able to take them on that basis.

We have an in-house counsel who undertakes assessment of claims and who is willing to act on a no win no fee basis in appropriate cases. Counsel will charge an initial consultation fee of £200 -£300 plus VAT @ 20% to review the case. If a case is of some complexity or there is significant paperwork the charge could be more.

Any initial consultation fee must be paid even if a No win No fee is agreed later. Until a no win, no fee agreement is agreed and signed all work is on a time charge rate and must be paid for.

The no win no fee rate (Damages Based Agreement) for employment tribunal claims is usually the statutory maximum of 29% plus VAT of the award/settlement.

Employment tribunal cases usually settle but if it does not the 29% will not include counsels fee to represent you at the hearing. Such fees can also be agreed on a no win no fee basis with a success fee uplift, typically 50%. Accordingly, if a brief fee is £850 a day on a success fee, the fee would be £1275 plus Vat @ 20%, and if he is not successful, the fee is £0. Please note that if a success fee is agreed you cannot recover it from the losing party.

Please therefore make sure you have considered the cost/benefit of a success fee arrangement before agreeing to it.

You will be required to pay up front all disbursements although if you are successful, they may be recovered. Experts cannot be engaged on a no win no fee basis, since they have an overriding legal duty to the Court to be impartial and independent.

What happens if you win a No Win No Fee case

If you win (which means that your case is decided in your favour whether by agreement or otherwise) you agree to pay us an agreed percentage of any compensation awarded/settlement agreed plus any outstanding disbursements and VAT @ 20%. You agree that we may receive the compensation your opponent has to pay.

If the case is settled, the other side may agree to make a contribution towards your legal fees for advising in connection with a settlement agreement. Such contribution, if offered, specifically relates to advice in relation to the settlement agreement and does not impact on the no win no fee arrangement.   In other words, you will not be entitled to offset these contributory fees against other payments you are required to make under the No win no fee agreement. There may also be a shortfall between such a contributory payment and our work in relation to the negotiation and finalisation/ signing off of a compromise agreement. We reserve the right to charge for this as well at our time charge rates in addition to the no win no fee percentage payment plus vat @ 20%.

If your opponent fails to pay any damages owed to you, we have the right to take recovery action in your name to enforce any award or settlement agreement.   The reasonable cost of this action is payable by you in addition to the agreed percentage plus Vat@ 20% of the damages.

What happens if you lose a No Win No Fee case

If you lose you do not have to pay anything, except our disbursements – excluding any counsel’s fees which are covered by a no win no fee agreement.

What happens if the agreement ends before the case itself ends

You can end the agreement at any time.   You are then liable to pay us our costs incurred up to the date you end the agreement (calculated according to the rates set out in the client care letter).

We can end the agreement if you do not keep to your responsibilities (i.e. you must give us clear instructions which allow us to do our work properly; and you agree not to ask us to work in an improper or unreasonable way; you agree not to deliberately mislead us, and to co-operate with us when asked, and attend any hearing at which you are required by us to give evidence or to be present to provide us with relevant instructions. You also agree to pay for relevant disbursements (where these are required by us) (and in advance if so requested by us) as the case goes on). If you do not keep to your responsibilities, you will then be liable to pay us our costs incurred up to the date the agreement ends calculated on a time basis at the hourly rates as set out above.

We can end the agreement if we believe that you are unlikely to win and you disagree with us. You do not have to pay us our costs in these circumstances. You will still however pay for any disbursements which we have incurred in relation to the matter.

We can end the agreement if you reject our opinion about accepting a settlement offer made by your opponent. You are then liable to pay our costs incurred up to the date the agreement ends calculated on a time basis at the hourly rates as set out above.

After the agreement ends you agree to apply to have our name removed from the record of any proceedings in which we were acting. We have the right to preserve the lien over your file in our possession unless any money owed to us under this agreement is paid in full. This means we are entitled keep your papers until you pay us in full. If we release your file to a new firm of solicitors instructed by you in relation to the claim, then you agree that the file will be deemed to have been released to the solicitors on a subject to lien basis.

Insurance

Employment disputes may be covered by a home or business policy. If you believe you have insurance cover, please let us know so we can discuss it with you and see if the policy applies.

DISBURSEMENTS

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

Other disbursements may occur, some are listed below but many are particular to the circumstance of your case and the fee earner will advise you of them as needed.

KEY STAGES

We do not offer a fixed fee to cover all the stages in an employment case, however we list below the general type of work and key stages in an employment claim that would be included in one of our rough estimates. In practice what stages would be covered would depend on your instructions specific to your matter, the complexity of the case, the length of the trial and the amount of documentation and witnesses.

1. 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), this will usually be £260 – £1,000 plus VAT @ 20%.
2. Entering into early conciliation to explore whether a settlement can be reached, this will usually be £500- £1,000 plus VAT @ 20%.
3. Preparing claim or response, this will usually be £1,000 – £2,000 plus VAT @ 20%.
4. Reviewing and advising on claim or response from other party this will usually be £1,000 – £2,000 plus VAT @ 20%
5. Preparing or considering a schedule of loss this will usually be £250-£500 plus VAT @ 20%
6. Preparing for (and attending) a Preliminary Hearing this will usually be £1,000- £2,000 plus VAT @ 20%
7. Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents this will usually be £2,000 – £4,000 plus VAT @ 20%
8. Preparing witness statements this will usually be £2,000 – £4,000 plus VAT @ 20%
9. Preparing bundles of documents this will usually be £2,000 – £4,000 plus VAT @ 20%
10. Reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements, this will usually be £2,000 – £4,000 plus VAT @ 20%
11. Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list, this will usually be £250- £1,000 plus VAT @ 20%
12. Preparation for trial including any separate hearing to determine compensation, including instructions to Counsel, this will usually be £2,000- £4,000 plus VAT @ 20%
13. Attendance at trial: it may not always be necessary for us to attend the hearing or all of the hearing or it may only be necessary for a paralegal or trainee to attend the hearing. If we do our costs will be between £700-£1,500 plus VAT @ 20% per day.

The key stages set out above are an indication. If some of stages are not required, the fee will be lower. You may wish to handle the claim yourself and only have our advice in relation to some of the stages.

If there are additional stages, the costs will be higher.  Additional stages include:

• Making or responding to additional applications, for example applications for specific disclosure, to strike out a claim, to seek additional time to take a step in the process, to seek an unless order to compel the other side to complete a step in the process.
• Joining additional parties or dealing with additional parties.
• Amending pleadings.
• Dealing with appeals

Timescales

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 2-12 weeks. If your claim proceeds to a Final Hearing and then a Remedy Hearing, your case is likely to take 1 – 2 years. If the matter is then appealed, it can be longer than that. These times are just a rough estimate, and we will be able to give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information and as the matter progresses.