Legal Costs

When pursuing a claim through the Employment Tribunal, you will be responsible for paying your own legal costs whether you win or lose. Your opponent too will be responsible for their legal costs irrespective of the outcome of your claim. However the Employment Tribunal has it within its power to order that in addition to paying your own legal costs, you also pay some or all of your opponent’s legal costs. This is commonly known as a Wasted Costs Order.

There are two elements to the legal costs. Firstly your solicitor’s bill for the time spent on your case and secondly disbursements which can include photocopying, your solicitor’s travelling and waiting time, medical reports, specialist such as a psychiatrist attending the hearing and the cost of a Barrister or Advocate to represent you at a Hearing.

The total legal cost can vary dramatically depending on a number of factors including the complexity at law of your case, the extent and manner in which your opponent defends the case and the length of a hearing.

There are 6 ways your legal costs can be funded:

Self Representation

You may of course represent yourself. If you do so you will nonetheless have to pay for your own disbursements and we would recommend that you acquaint yourself with appropriate legislation, any case law that is applicable to your claim, the Employment Tribunal rules, together with the protocols relating to litigating your claim through the Employment Tribunal to ensure you are not subjected to a Wasted Costs Order being made against you to pay some or all of your opponent’s legal costs.

Private Funding

You can pay a solicitor to run your claim. If you chose this route to fund your claim we would recommend you consider the following check list before deciding to do so:

1 In addition to your solicitor’s bill, will you also have to pay for any disbursements your solicitor incurs on your behalf.

2 There is no upper limit or ceiling to the amount your final legal bill might be.

3 Win or lose will you be personally responsible for paying the legal bill.

4 Ensure you will have sufficient funds to see your claim through to the end. Your solicitor will almost certainly require you to pay money on account prior to work being done on your case and further money on account whilst your claim progresses. If you run out of money part way through your claim, your solicitor will almost certainly stop acting for you at the same time you have no money left.

5 Be prepared to pay your legal bill even if you lose. The law is rarely straightforward and the vagaries of litigation are such that many claims are morally excellent but fail at law.

6 Pursuing your claim as a point of principle can be very costly and the only people to benefit are the solicitors!

7 Before proceedings and regularly whilst your claim is progressing, do an analysis of your claim with your solicitor and take a view as to whether you believe that your claim is cost effective; otherwise your legal costs could be more than the compensation you receive! The factors we would recommend you discuss with your solicitor in order for you to analyse the cost effectiveness of your claim are:

a) The chances of your claim succeeding.
b) The likely total cost of your legal bill.
c) The amount of compensation you are likely to be awarded.
d) The possibility of a Wasted Costs Order being made against you.

There are consultants in the market whom you might consider paying to run your claim. However, before instructing one, we would recommend that you check that they are regulated by the Claims Management Regulator and that they have Professional Indemnity Insurance.

Legal Expense Insurance

If you have any credit cards, car or house contents insurance, you can check your policy to see if you have cover for your legal costs to enforce your employment rights. If you do, the insurance company will pay your legal costs. The insurance company should offer you the right to elect any firm of solicitors of your choice. If they don’t you can contact us for help.
 
When using the benefit of Legal Expense Insurance, you may find that the Insurance Company suggests you use a firm of solicitors on their panel. This is because they will have previously negotiated preferential terms with those firm of solicitors.

No One (apart from the Insurance Company and the firm of solicitors) actually knows precisely what the terms between them have been agreed. However it is generally suspected in the market that it includes a “Fixed Price” rate or a lower hourly rate than the standard rate normally charged by the firm of Solicitors and/or an exchange of introduction to more profitable work to the firm of solicitors such as injury claims.
 
As a result we would recommend that you investigate with the insurer the experience and expertise of the individual within the proposed firm of solicitors before agreeing to go ahead. Alternatively you can contact us for a free discussion about the possibility of us introducing you to an independent Employment Tribunal Claims Solicitor.
 
You may find that prior to your claim being heard at an Employment Tribunal, the Insurer withdraws funding your claim; that’s correct, right in the middle of your claim being progressed !!

If your Legal Expense Insurer refuses to fund your claim you can contact us for help.

Trade Unions

If you are currently a member of a Trade Union or indeed if you were a member of a Trade Union at the time your employment ceased, you may qualify for your Trade Union to fund your claim. You can apply to your Trade Union to see if your claim qualifies under the terms of their scheme for your legal costs to be paid by your Trade Union.
 
As with Legal Expense Insurance cover, your Trade Union may well have negotiated preferred terms with their recommended firm of solicitors; so do please carry out the appropriate checks we have suggested in the Legal Expense section.

No Win, No Fee

When using a solicitor to make a claim through the Employment Tribunal the financial risks can be broadly categorised into three areas. It is a common misconception that with the benefit of a No Win No Fee agreement the Solicitor will ensure that his or her client is financially protected against them all. In fact, other than a solicitor through Employment Tribunal Claims, we have not found a single solicitors practice whose No Win No Fee agreement that does! So use the following as a Check List if you do decide to speak to a solicitor about a No Win No Fee agreement:
 
1. How is your Solicitor's fee calculated?
 
2. Who pays any additional costs needed to pursue your claim known as disbursements? This can range from photocopying to expert witnesses or a Barrister.
 
3. Who pays your opponent’s legal costs? This expense does not occur automatically if you lose; rather, only if your opponent applies to the Employment Tribunal to make an award against you for their costs and expenses. The Employment Tribunal will make an award against you if they consider:
 
a) That you have brought the claim unreasonably, (that is to say at law you should have never brought the claim in the first place or you should have withdrawn it half way through if information / evidence came into your possession which you should have recognised as being sufficient at law for it to be unreasonable for you to continue with your claim).
 
b) Your conduct whilst pursuing the claim is unreasonable, (that is to say you should comply with the timetable set out in the Employment Tribunal Rules or ordered to comply with by an order made by the Employment Tribunal).
 
c) Your claim at law is considered by the Employment Tribunal to be frivolous.
 
d) Your claim at law is considered by the Employment Tribunal to be vexatious.
 
e) Your claim at law is considered by the Employment Tribunal to be misconceived.
 
When discussing with a prospective solicitor, always make sure you fully understand which (if any) of the above mentioned categories you will remain financially at risk even though you have a No Win No Fee Agreement.
 
If you would like to discuss your claim with a solicitor that will protect you against all of the above financial risks(so long as you cooperate with the solicitor and don't lie), then please feel free to contact us.

Appeals to the Employment Appeals Tribunal, House of Lords and the European Courts.

If you or your opponent appeal to any of the above three Courts, then the costs position is different to the Employment Tribunal.
 
Broadly, the losing party pays for both sides reasonable costs.

More Information - Types of Claim | Compensation | Appeals | ACAS | Contact Us / Make a Claim