Our Fees for Employment

OUR HOURLY RATES

We charge an hourly rate depending upon the level of fee earner. This is determined by the complexity of your matter. Our hourly rates vary from £121 plus VAT to £267 plus VAT according to location. We require payment for the initial meeting and then money on account if you decide to proceed. Our policy is then to bill all work in progress at the end of each calendar month. You can reduce the time we spend on your case by sending any relevant documents to us in advance together with a short description of the problem. We always like to see a copy of your employment contract if you have one. You will be charged for pre-reading any material in advance of the initial meeting.

Insurance Policy in Place

You should check your insurance policies such as home contents to see whether you have the benefit of a legal expenses insurance policy.

Membership of Union

Are you a member of a Trade Union? If so, the Union may fund your case.

Enforcement of Compromise Agreement

Your employer’s contribution will normally cover the cost of advice on the terms of a compromise agreement.

No Legal Aid

We have no legal aid franchise.

Limited Chances for No Win No Fee Agreement

We will arrange an initial meeting with you to consider whether your claim has more than 50% chance of succeeding at the employment tribunal and the compensation awarded will be enough to cover our costs. We always charge for the initial meeting. Because the costs of the case are not recoverable in the employment tribunal by the winning party, the scope for recovering enough compensation to pay our fees is limited so we tend not to undertake many no win no fee agreements.

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Our Fee for Employees at Employment Tribunal

Our estimating for bringing and defending claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal for Simple case: £6500 to £14000 (excluding VAT), for Medium complexity case: £10,000 to £18000 (excluding VAT) and for High complexity case: £19,000 to £58,000 (excluding VAT)

Factors that could make a case more complex:

• If it is necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim
• Defending claims that are brought by litigants in person
• Making or defending a costs application
• Complex preliminary issues such as whether the claimant is disabled (if this is not agreed by the parties)
• The number of witnesses and documents
• If it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim e.g. if you are dismissed after blowing the whistle on your employer
• Allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal

There will be an additional charge for attending a Tribunal Hearing of £1200 to £3800 per day (excluding VAT). Generally, we would allow 1-2 days depending on the complexity of your case. However, please note that apart from some preliminary hearings we will usually instruct counsel (a barrister). We refer to their fees under the next heading.

The 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 (barristers) fees estimated between £1200 to £38000 for preparation including the first day in tribunal and then £600 to £8000 per day for each additional day at the Tribunal hearing (depending on the experience of the advocate) for attending a Tribunal Hearing. In addition (with your agreement) we may ask a barrister to review your case and advise in conference and or review witness statements. The cost of a conference would be in the range of £600 and £8000 depending on the amount of preparation required at that stage. Review of witness statements would be likely to be in the range of £600 to £6000.

Other Key Factors

The fees set out above cover all 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 be revisited throughout the matter and subject to change)

Entering pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached;

• Preparing claim or response
• Reviewing and advising on claims or responses from other parties
• Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process
• preparing or considering a schedule of loss
• Preparing for (and attending) a Preliminary Hearing
• Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing on 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 on 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 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.

Our fees for Employers at Employment Tribunal

Our pricing for bringing and defending claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal Simple case: £5000-£10000 (excluding VAT) Medium complexity case: £10,000-£15000 (excluding VAT) High complexity case: £16,000-£50,000 (excluding VAT) Factors that could make a case more complex:

• If it is necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim
• Defending claims that are brought by litigants in person
• Making or defending a costs application
• Complex preliminary issues such as whether the claimant is disabled (if this is not agreed by the parties)
• The number of witnesses and documents
• If it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim e.g. if you are dismissed after blowing the whistle on your employer
• Allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal

There will be an additional charge for attending a Tribunal Hearing of £1200 to £38000 per day (excluding VAT). Generally, we would allow 1-2 days depending on the complexity of your case. However, please note that, apart from some preliminary hearings we will usually instruct counsel (a barrister). We refer to their fees under the next heading.

The 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 (barristers) fees estimated between £1200 to £38000 for preparation including the first day in tribunal and then £500 to £5000 per day for each additional day at the Tribunal hearing (depending on the experience of the advocate) for attending a Tribunal Hearing. In addition (with your agreement) we may ask a barrister to review your case and advise in conference and or review witness statements. The cost of a conference would be in the range of £500 and £3000 depending on the amount of preparation required at that stage. A review of witness statements would be likely to be in the range of £500 to £6000.

Other Key Factors

The fees set out above cover all of the work in relation to the following key stages of a claim:

Captivating 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 pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached;

• Preparing claim or response
• Reviewing and advising on claim or response from other party
• Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the 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
• 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 on a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list
• Preparation and attendance at Final Hearing, including instructions to Counsel

The phases 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

Employment Tribunal Pricing For Employees

Our fees for bringing claims for unfair and wrongful dismissal are based on three bands, which we will be happy to discuss with you.

We will advise you of the funding options available to you, for example as an individual you may have insurance that can cover your legal fees.

There are various items we will consider when deciding what pricing band your case falls into. We will make this assessment and inform you of the relevant fees at the earliest opportunity.  We shall decide the level of the fee earner that will advise you on this matter.

Factors that may influence this include the need for:

• Filling out and submitting a claim form outlining your case to the relevant Tribunal centre
• Reviewing your former employer’s response to the claim
• Reviewing documentation received setting out the factual and legal basis of the claim
• Reviewing any Orders made by the Court
• Making any further applications to a Tribunal on your behalf
• Whether an Employment Tribunal hearing is required
• Whether you elect to appoint a more senior fee earner such as a Partner

Fees

Items	Range of Costs	VAT	Subtotal
Simple case defined as:- No Preliminary Hearing Up to a maximum of 2 witnesses No greater than 1 day in Employment Tribunal Limited documentation	£6,000 – £11,000	20%	£8,200 – £12,200
Mid-range complex case defined as including one or more of the following factors:- Preliminary Hearing Significant documentation Greater than 2 witnesses	£12,000 – £19,000	20%	£12,400 – £22,800
High complex case defined as one including one or more of the following factors:- Preliminary Hearing Multi day Hearing Extensive witness evidence Multi Respondents Significant documentation Inter-party applications/cost applications List of Issues/Chronology and Cost List	£14,000 – £31,000	20%	£16,800 – £36,200
Attending Tribunal hearing per day*	£1,200

 

Debt Recovery

Undisputed Debt Recovery Charges

All undisputed debt recovery work is carried out at a fixed rate.

Letter before action

Amount of Debt	Charge plus Vat
£0-1,000	£150.00
£1000.01 – £4,999.99	£200.00
£5,000 +	£350.00

Letter before action charges are not recoverable from your debtor.

Telephone Chasers

Unless instructed otherwise, on expiry of the letter before action, if a satisfactory response is not received from the debtor we will automatically chase the debtor for payment via the telephone.

All telephone calls and updates to clients are charged in accordance with our hourly rates. Average hourly rate is £210 plus VAT. However, most debt recovery matters are carried out by a Paralegal or a Trainee Solicitor to ensure that the work is carried out in the most cost effective manner. The average hourly rate of a Paralegal/ Trainee Solicitor is £121 plus VAT.

Claim Form

We will commence Court proceedings against your debtor on your behalf.

Amount of Debt Up to £300	Charge plus VAT £150.00- 220.00	Court Issue Fee £35.00	Fixed Costs £50.00
£300.01 – £500	£150.00- 220.00	£50.00	£50.00
£500.01 – £1,000	£150- 220.00	£70.00	£70.00
£1,000.01 – £1,500	£150- 220.00	£80.00	£80.00
£1,500.01 – £3,000	£150- 220.00	£115.00	£80.00
£3,000.01 – £5,000	£150- 220.00	£205.00	£80.00
£5,000.01 – £15,000	£150- 220.00	£455.00	£100.00
£15,000.01 – £50,000	£150- 220.00	5% of the value of the Claim	£100.00
£50,000.01 – £100,000	£150- 220.00
£100,000.01 – £150,000	£150- 220.00
£150,000.01 – £200,000	£150- 220.00
£200,000.01 – £250,000	£150- 220.00	£10,0000	£100.00
£250,000.01 – £300,000	£150- 220.00
£300,000.01 +	£150- 220.00
To issue proceedings other than a money claim	To be agreed

*Indicates what is recoverable from your debtor. The Court Issue fees shown above are normally also recoverable from the debtor.

To Request Judgment in Default (where the defendant has not filed an Acknowledgment of Service or a Defence)

Debt Amount £0 – £5,000	Default of Acknowledgement of Service £50 plus VAT	Recoverable Fixed Costs £22	Default of Defence Charge £50 plus VAT	Fixed Costs Recoverable   £25
Over £5,000	£50 plus VAT	£30	£50 plus VAT	£30

*Indicates what is recoverable from your debtor

These costs apply for undisputed outstanding payment of invoice(s).

If the debt is under £10,000 there is a no costs rule which will mean that as a general rule you are unable to recover your costs from the debtor even if you are successful. Fixed costs and Court fee are usually recoverable and are indicated above*

You can claim interest and compensation and we will advise you of the applicable rates.

Disputed Debt Recovery (Claims over £10,000)

If during the debt recovery process, the matter becomes disputed or enforcement action is required (where Judgment has been obtained but the amount remains unpaid), we will discuss the change in fees with you and agree a way forward.

Upon a case being defended we will advise as to the merits of that defence and provide a full breakdown of likely costs of continuing the action.

However, to give you an indication of fees, all work will be charged on a time spent basis in accordance with hourly rates. As set out above, the average hourly rate of fee earners in the Commercial Litigation and the Dispute Resolution Team is £210 per hour plus VAT.

Disputed Small Claims matters (matters less than £10,000)

This Firm does however offer a Fixed Fee for the conclusion of small claims matters (whether it be by way of early settlement or determination, Court Judgement or Order or discontinuance).

Claims up to £5,000 – Fixed Fee £2,000 plus VAT and disbursements *

Claims £5,000 to £10,000 – Fixed Fee £3,000 plus VAT and disbursements *

*Court fee as set out above and barrister fees for attendance at a final hearing (dependent on barrister seniority) usually £285 – £300 plus VAT for a small claim.

Hearing Fees

Where a matter is disputed and the matter is listed for a hearing, there will also be a hearing fee.

Small Claim Track where the amount claimed is:

• Claims up to £300 £25
• Claims between £300.01 and £500 £55
• Claims between £500.01 and £1,000 £80
• Claims between £1,000.01 and £1,500 £115
• Claims between £1,500.01 and £3,000 £170
• Claims more than £3,000 £335
• Fast track claims (claims over £10,000) £545
• Multi track claim (claims over £25,000) £1,090

Insolvency Proceedings

We can commence insolvency proceedings against your debtor on your behalf

Items	Charges*	Disbursements
Statutory Demand	£200.00 plus VAT	Process Servers Fee (circa £60 plus VAT depending on location)
Bankruptcy Petition (Individual)	£500.00 plus VAT	Issue Fee – £280.00 Official Receivers Deposit – £990 Process Servers Fee
Winding Up Petition (Corporate)	£600.00 plus VAT	Issue Fee – £280.00 O/R Deposit – £1,600.00 Petition Advert – £181.20 (inc VAT)

Other disbursements may be payable.

Statutory Demand fees are not normally recoverable from your debtor.

Petition fees are normally recoverable from your debtor.

 

Probate

The fees involved in a probate matter can vary and this will depend on the individual circumstances involved.

We offer a fixed fee where Personal Representatives ask us to obtain the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration (collectively known as a Grant of Representation) for them in simple estates, so they can then deal with the administration of the estate themselves.

Otherwise, we offer an hourly rate charging rate, whereby you will be only be charged for the time spent on the matter.

Grant of Representation only

Item	Amount	VAT	Total
Fixed Fee for grant of representation only, where the IHT205 is required (the short form of the IHT Return)	From £1,500	£300	£1,800
Legal Fees for Grant of Representation only, where the IHT 400 is required (the long form of the IHT Return)	From £2,000	£400	£2,400

The above fees are for applications where the Personal Representatives are providing the necessary details of the assets in the estate.

 

Dealing with the entire estate

We can help you through this difficult process by obtaining the Grant of Representation on your behalf and then continue to administer the estate on your behalf. As part of our retainer we will:

• Provide you with a dedicated and experienced Probate solicitor to work on your matter
• Identify the legally appointed executors, administrators and beneficiaries
• Obtain the necessary valuations of the assets and liabilities in the estate
• Accurately identify the type of Probate application you will require
• Provide and complete the relevant Probate and HMRC forms required to make the application
• Make the application to the Probate Registry on your behalf
• Obtain the Grant of Representation
• Collect in all assets in the estate and settle the liabilities
• Finalise the deceased’s income tax affairs for the tax year to the date of death
• Distribute the estate in accordance with the terms of the Will
• Prepare a detailed account of the estate for the Executors and Residuary Beneficiaries

The range of fees will depend on issues such as the number of beneficiaries and whether the estate includes any property. Probate fees will also typically increase, depending on whether there are multiple bank accounts, shares and based on the number and value of any property.

We will handle the full process for you and give the following range of costs based on estimated time required. Please note that the term Property includes real property passing under the terms of the Will. So, if the deceased held a property jointly with their spouse, which passes directly to their spouse by survivorship on death, we would treat that estate as being one where there is no property to be dealt with.

 

Legal Fees admiration for Estate Estate example	Fee Range	VAT	Total inc. VAT
Estate value of up to £50,000 without a property and up to 4 accounts (based on 7 – 10 hours of time)	£1,800 to £2,600	£360 to £520	£2,160 to £3,120
Estate Value between £50,000 to £100,000 without a property and up to 6 accounts (based on 9 to 16 hours of time)	£2,600 to £4,200	£520 to £840	£3,120 to £5,040
Estate Value £100,000 to £325,000 to include a property and up to 12 investments (based on 16 to 30 hours of time)	£4,200 to £7,800	£840 to £1,560	£5,040 to £9,360
Estate value £325,000 to £650,000 to include a property and up to 16 investments (based on 20 to 38 hours of time)	£5,200 to £9,900	£1,040 to £1,980	£6,240 to £11,880
Estate value £650,000 to £2,000,000 to include a property and up to 30 investments (based on 28 to 120 hours of time)	£7,300 to £32,000	£1,460 to £6,400	£8,760 to £38,400
Estate value over £2,000,000 costs by agreement.

Note: Values stated refer to the gross value of the estate

Disbursements

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

Anticipated Disbursements

Item	Amount
Probate Fee	£155
Office Copies for the Grant of Probate, per copy (1 per asset usually)	£1.50
Land Registry Search fee	£3
Post in the Local Newspaper	varies
Post in the London Gazette	varies

Additional Costs

The cost of selling or transferring a property is not included in the above prices. If you require this service, please let us know and a quote can be provided by our conveyancing team.

There may be additional disbursements if we have to deal with tracing a lost Will, tracing lost assets or replacing lost share certificates.

In some circumstances it may be necessary to pay a premium for an indemnity insurance policy, for example if beneficiaries can’t be traced.

If the estate is subject to IHT then it is likely that there will be additional disbursements for the cost of obtaining valuations for property, possessions and shareholdings.

Inheritance Tax

There are various factors that will affect any Inheritance Tax due on an estate, including the size of the estate and any measures that were put in place by the deceased to limit the estate’s tax liability.

We do not believe that it would be sensible to attempt to provide at this stage an estimate of any tax that may be payable. We would advise you to look on the HMRC Website to calculate Inheritance Tax which may be due, the calculators can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/hmrc-tools-and-calculators#inheritance-tax-and-bereavement

Our Immigration Solicitors at Solicitor’s Inn are committed to providing quality services to all our clients in relation to their immigration matters. Our team will choose the correct route and accurate guidelines based on your documentation and status.

We submit the applications along with all the required documentation and pieces of information on behalf of the client in time. We obtain updates and provide you with updates on your immigration matters without any delay.

How to get started?

To book an initial consultation please fill in the form below and someone from our team will contact you as soon as possible. We’re here to answer your questions. If you prefer to contact us by phone then call us on 0203 500 8000 or email us at info@solicitorsinn.co.uk.

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