SRA Transparency Rules
Compliance with the SRA Transparency Rules
Our overall fees vary depending upon how complex your case is and what you would like us to do. For a free quote specifically tailored to your circumstances please email info@robinsonralph.com or call 0113 2123240.
We would be more than happy to discuss your case. At our first meeting, we will explore what funding options, such as insurance cover, may be available to cover the costs.
To give you an idea of how we charge however, and to comply the SRA price transparency rules, we have set out below details of our typical hourly rates and fees for unfair and wrongful dismissal claims.
Our charges are made up of: a) our fees for the legal work; b) ‘disbursements’ - disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to other people, such as fees for a barrister’s opinion or help at Court.
We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.
Where VAT is referred to below please note that this will be charged at the applicable rate, which is currently 20%.
Our fees
Our fees will either be agreed with you as a fixed sum at the start of your case or based on how much time it takes to deal with your case. Our standard hourly rates are:
• Director: £ 360.00 plus VAT
• Partner: £ 325.00 plus VAT
• Solicitor: £ 235.00 plus VAT
• Paralegal: £ 185.00 plus VAT
To give a very general idea of how much our fees (excluding ‘disbursements’ – see below) tend to be for bringing or defending unfair or wrongful dismissal the ranges tend to be:
- Simple case: £10,000-£15,000 (excluding VAT)
- Medium complexity case: £15,000-£20,000 (excluding VAT)
- High complexity case: £20,000-£30,000 (excluding VAT)
As can be seen from the above, the time spent on a case and our costs can vary significantly depending upon how complex a case is. A case is likely to be more complex (and so incur more time) if:
• Additional claims are also being brought at the same time; • Itis necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims ortoprovide further information about an existing claim
• We are defending claims that are brought by litigants in person • We need to make or defend a costs application
• There are complex preliminary issues such as whethertheclaimantis disabled (if this is not agreed by the parties)
• There are a large number of witnesses or documents
• It is an automatic unfair dismissal claim e.g. if you are dismissed after blowing the whistle on your employer
• allegations of discrimination which arelinked to the dismissal are made
• If a case proceeds to a full hearing,wewouldexpect hearings to last between 1 and 20 days depending on the complexity of your case.
Disbursements
You will need to pay for ‘disbursements’ in addition to our fees as described above. In an unfair or wrongful dismissal claim the most common disbursements are for barrister’s fees.
A barrister is often used to deal with a Tribunal hearing if your case is not settled before this time (which can often occur).
Should a barrister be instructed to attend a Tribunal Hearing, fees are estimated to be between £1,000 to £2,000 VAT per day (depending on experience of the barrister)for attending a Tribunal Hearing (including preparation).
Other costs to consider
Normally you do not have to pay your opponent’s costs in an employment claim but we will guide you further if we feel that you are at risk of this at any stage.
Key stages
The fees set out above cover all of the work in relation to the following key stages of a claim:
• Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on merits and likely compensation (this is likely to berevisited throughoutthe matter and subjectto change)
• Entering into pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached;
• Preparing claim or response
• Reviewing and advising on claim orresponsefrom other party
• Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughoutthe process
• preparing or considering a schedule of loss
• Preparing for(and attending) a Preliminary Hearing
• Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents
• Takingwitness statements,drafting statements and agreeing their contentwith witnesses
• preparing bundle ofdocuments
• Reviewing and advising on the other party's witness statements
• agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list
• Preparation and attendance at Final Hearing, including instructions to Counsel
The stages set out above are an indication and if some of stages above are not required, the fee will bereduced.
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.
It would not normally be necessary to undertake other work or incur other costs other than those described above. However, we would be very happy to provide you with a more tailored quote for all stages of your particular case once we know about your specific circumstances.
How long will my matter 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 2-4 weeks.
If your claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, your case is likely to take 26-39 weeks.
This is just an estimate and we will of course be ableto give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information and as the matter progresses.
Who will be dealing with my case?
Your case will be handled by a trusted member of our experienced team. We have a number of qualified lawyers in the team.
Once we know who will be handling your case for you we will introduce you to them and provide you with full details of their background and qualifications.
Details of the experience and qualifications of our team are available on our website https://robinsonralph.com/about.
Regardless of who is working on your case the matter will be supervised by one of our solicitor partners:
Simon Robinson
Qualification – March 1998, Solicitor Experience – Simon has been advising employers on Employment Tribunal and HR-related matters since 2000.
Types of matter undertaken – Employment Tribunal and EAT preparation and representation; Providing advice on all areas of employment law, presents training sessions on all areas of employment law.
David Sillitoe
Qualification – Since 1 October 2008, Solicitor Experience – David has been advising employers on Employment Tribunal and HR-related matters since 2004.
Types of matter undertaken – Employment Tribunals; HR support; Training TUPE advice; Corporate support on mergers and acquisitions.