PRICING 

Immigration :

Our fees are calculated on an hourly basis and rates within the team vary between £180-£280 per hour. Our average rate will vary depending on the complexity of the work required and the experience of the lawyers assigned to work on your matter. In general terms your matter will be managed by a partner who will enlist support from other associates and legal assistants depending on the nature of the case. Typically, our fees for straightforward matters would be in the following range:

Entry clearance - £1,000 - £2000;

Leave to remain - £1,000 - £2,000;

Indefinite Leave to Remain - £1500 - £4000; and

Citizenship - £500 - £2000.

There are also some third party charges which may need to be added to our bill. These items include:

Home Office fees;

barrister’s fees, as agreed in advance;

translation fees, where necessary £60 per page;

On occasion we may also use couriers within the UK and for international deliveries and their costs can vary depending on the urgency of delivery and the location in the world.

All fees and costs shown above are exclusive of Value Added Tax (VAT) where applicable. 

Employment : 

We normally charge for our work on the basis of time spent on a matter, based on hourly rates of £180 - £280 per hour, depending on the seniority and level of experience of the individual who might be working on your matter.

Our estimated fees, exclusive of VAT which will be added where applicable to each bill, for bringing and defending claims in the Employment Tribunal for unfair or wrongful dismissal are as follows:

simple case: £5,000 - £10,000;

medium complexity case: £10,000 - £25,000; or

high complexity case: £25,000 - £40,000+.

The wide range in each of these categories comes down to a number of complicating factors, which may result in an increase in costs. These include:

whether 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;

whether complex allegations form part of the claim, such as  whistleblowing;

preliminary issues, such as whether the claim is on time, or only issues to do with employment status etc (if these are not agreed by the parties);

the need for a Preliminary Hearing, before the Final Tribunal Hearing;

the number of witnesses;

the number of documents held by either side and the complexity involved in finding, disclosing and

reviewing those documents;

the amount of correspondence produced, or issues raised by, the other side including any difficulties in

agreeing a list of issues, chronology or Hearing bundle;

if it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim e.g. if it is alleged the dismissal was because of whistleblowing or

because of a TUPE transfer etc;

the length of the Final Tribunal Hearing; and

making or defending a costs application.

Third party costs

Barrister’s fees and copying charges are two examples of third party costs that you may incur in addition to our charges. We handle the payment of these on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

The main third-party cost associated with a Tribunal claim is the cost of instructing a barrister (known as Counsel) to represent you at a Tribunal Hearing. This cost will be in addition to our estimated fees above.

Counsel's fees for representing you at a Final Tribunal Hearing are normally made up of a brief fee (which includes preparation and attendance at a one-day hearing) and a daily refresher rate (for attending any additional Hearing days).  Counsel’s fees for representing you at the Final Tribunal Hearing are estimated as follows (depending on the seniority of the advocate):

a brief fee of between £1,750 - £15,000; and

a daily refresher rate of between £1,250 - £4,000.

Key stages

The fee estimates set out above cover 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 into pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached;

preparing a claim or response;

reviewing and advising on the claim or response from the other party;

corresponding with the Employment Tribunal and the other side;

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;

reviewing and advising on the other party's witness statements;

agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and / or cast list;

instructing and liaising with Counsel; and

preparation for and attendance at Final Tribunal Hearing.

The stages set out above are an indication and if some stages above are not required, the fee will be reduced.

Stages not covered by our estimate

The fee estimates set out above do not include the following work. If any of these issues are relevant to your claim,

or arise as part of it, it may increase the fee payable:

advising on or engaging in settlement negotiations or preparing and negotiating any paperwork connected with settlement of the claim;
advising or acting in respect of any claims other than unfair dismissal or wrongful dismissal, for example, discrimination or detriment due to whistleblowing etc;

any issues under the General Data Protection Regulation (known as GDPR), including advising on or responding to a data subject access request;
any orders against you to pay the other side’s costs or preparation time relating to any dispute over costs; involvement of Counsel at any stage of the claim, other than the Final Tribunal Hearing (please note that it may often be advisable to include Counsel at an earlier stage than only the Final Tribunal Hearing); or advising on or participating in any form or mediation, including judicial mediation.

COMPLAINTS POLICY 

We want to give you the best possible service. However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service, we have  provided then you should inform us immediately, so that we can do our best to resolve the problem.

In the first instance it may be helpful to contact the person who is working on your case to discuss your concerns and we will do our best to resolve any issues. If you would like to make a formal complaint, then please contact the Complaints Manager who will aim to acknowledge your complaint within 7 days of receipt and aim to respond within 28 days. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.

What to do if we cannot resolve your complaint

The Legal Ombudsman can help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves. They will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your case.

Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:

Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint

and

No more than six years from the date of act/omission; or

No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them.

Contact details

Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9.00 to 17.00.

Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ

What to do if you are unhappy with our behaviour

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic. Visit their website to see how you can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

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