Our Costs

Championing

Wellbeing

We pride ourselves on our innovative pricing strategy, which is rooted in transparency. Unlike other law firms who let their hourly rates run indefinitely, we assess the value of each project, task or advice on the facts and then price accordingly.

In some cases, yes, this means we may charge at hourly rates, but we will always be transparent about these costs and provide strategic support to ensure that the costs to our client don’t outweigh the financial benefits of conducting the work in the first place. Where possible, we will also look to offer clients different pricing options.

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Alongside hourly rate work, we are usually able to offer some or all of the following fee structures:

Fixed fees (examples below)
Pre-purchased hour blocks. Depending on the number of hours required, we can reduce the hourly rate as the block size increases and you can purchase these to fit the project size.
Fixed fee monthly retainer options. Generally, we offer clients 3 levels of monthly retainer on the expectation that at least one will suit their needs. These retainers will generally incorporate any ‘day to day’ advice and, for larger clients, we keep these arrangements flexible and don’t require a particular time commitment. We don’t want to tie clients in if they don’t want to work with us! We would prefer they stay out of choice.
Fee Allocation. We are happy to discuss a system under which we allocate an agreed percentage of fees paid by clients towards an initiative that aligns with that client’s values. That might be people focused, wellbeing initiatives, sustainability or supporting the client’s preferred charity.

What does transparency mean to us?

We want clients to obtain the best result, whatever that might look like in a particular circumstance. We approach pricing from a long-term perspective because we recognise that part of our job is to help you save money, rather than spend it on lawyers! We know that that builds trust between partners. To us, that is what matters most.

We have a few key transparency principles:

Clients will never get a surprise bill.
Clients will always be given fee structure options to make informed decisions.
We will always advise clients as to which option we think is in their best interests; not what generates the most money for us.
Clients will always feel that they have control over, and visibility of, their legal spend with us.
We will take proactive steps to reduce your legal spend. If we think your approach to people issues is resulting in problems that could be avoided, and therefore increased legal costs, we will offer suggestions that might address that issue and reduce costs in the future.

When it comes to more complex matters (such as Tribunal claims), we recognise that clients can’t be

expected to make decisions about the best steps if they don’t understand the financial ramifications of their options. It’s easy to instruct lawyers and think something is a great idea, but then a bill arrives and, with the benefit of hindsight, that client might wish they had chosen a different approach.

We always go out of our way to ensure that our costs are transparent from the outset. As an example, for a Tribunal matter, once we have reviewed the orders and established the volume of work required and the number and level of fee earners needed, we will provide a breakdown of likely costs for each stage and provide fixed fees for each stage. Not only does that enable the client to understand the likely total cost, but it provides them with visibility of where in the process the bulk of costs are generally incurred. That can then assist with strategic discussions around settlement, and when to consider it as an option.

We then invoice at each stage, and, because we also provide strategic evaluation, client can decide at each stage whether they want to consider settlement on balance and what would be a sensible offer.

Sometimes, fixed fees are simply not viable. This may be because there is no clear indication or idea of how long something may take. Negotiation is a great example of this; it is difficult to know how negotiations will proceed. Having said that, we can agree a cap to the hours and the time spent on the file, and our file management software notifies us when these caps are reached and we communicate this to clients. This ensures the client can make an informed decision in their further instructions and can sensibly manage their costs.

Insurance

We also can support both businesses and individuals through funding by their insurers, for Tribunal matters. Some insurers will prefer you to use firms of solicitors selected from their panel. However, you have the right to choose your own representation and should not be pressured into instructing a solicitor simply because they are recommended by the insurance broker.

You’d be surprised by the insurance types which cover legal expenses and employment disputes. The following are the insurance types which may cover this:

Director and Officers Insurance;
Buildings and Contents Insurance;
Home Insurance

Sometimes ‘After the Event Insurance’ [“ATE”] can also assist you – you should speak to your broker about this as an option.

We can help by liaising with your insurance to try to secure funding for you if you need us to, just provide us with the policy number and contact details.

Hourly Rate

If you do wish to instruct us on our hourly rates these are as follows:
(Click each Thrive Tribe member below to visit their profile.)

Jodie Hill	Managing Partner	£355 to £485 plus VAT
Tom Stenner-Evans	Partner	£355 to £450 plus VAT
Karen Eckstein	Head of Risk	£300 to £350 plus VAT
Polly Coram	Deputy Head of Risk	£200 to £250 plus VAT
Crystal Boyde	Senior Associate Solicitor and Head of Outsourced HR and Employment Law Support	£310 to £370 plus VAT
Laura Williams	Senior Associate Solicitor	£325 to £390 plus VAT
Alicia Collinson	Senior Associate Solicitor	£275 to £330 plus VAT
Henry Nelson-Case	Commercial Solicitor	£275 to £330 plus VAT
Imogen Hamblin	Associate Solicitor and Tribunal Advocate	£250 to £350 plus VAT
Ashmina Vekaria	Associate Solicitor	£225 to £260 plus VAT
Annabelle Oliver	Trainee Solicitor	£165 to £220 plus VAT
Katie Elvidge	Trainee Solicitor	£165 to £220 plus VAT
Roshni Punja	Paralegal	£145 to £190 plus VAT
Holly Binns	Legal Assistant	£130 to £180 plus VAT

The actual hourly rate will depend on the complexity of the support required. Please note all cases must be supervised and worked on by a qualified solicitor.

Our Estimated Costs

We are required by the Solicitors Regulation Authority to publish our legal fees in relation to wrongful and unfair dismissal, for both businesses and individuals.

In practicality, prior to commencing any work, we will prepare a full bespoke quote based on the complexity of the case. These will typically be based on fixed fees for each stage of the claim or defence and, as above, we will provide strategic advice in consideration of settlement against possible costs you could incur.

For both businesses and individuals, fees will vary depending on whether you have to face additional claims in conjunction with wrongful and/or unfair dismissal claims as it will inevitably make your defence more complex, requiring additional preparatory time.

All of the below costs may vary depending on the following:

volume/complexity of claims (claims listed above);
volume of documents;
number of witnesses;
for businesses, if the other party is a litigant in person (this often requires more time due to their lack of understanding of the process and the law);
dealing with cost applications;
dealing with applications to amend claims;
dealing with strike out or deposit order applications;
where the dismissal/treatment is potentially discriminatory;
making applications for interim relief;
dealing with preliminary issues in more than one preliminary hearing;
where you have started the claim/defence yourself and we have to correct any mistakes or redraft any part of the pleadings; or
where the other party acts unreasonably.

The following are the typical costs which a business may incur in defending a claim of unfair or wrongful dismissal:

Initial consultation: £400 to £700 plus VAT
ACAS Early Conciliation: £650 plus VAT
ET3 and Grounds of Response: £1,000 to £2,500 plus VAT
Counter Schedule of Loss: £350 to £500 plus VAT
Preliminary Hearing: £300 to £1,700 plus VAT
Disclosure: from £600 to £3,000 plus VAT (the costs vary significantly depending on the volume of documents and the complexity of the case)
List of Issues: £500 to £800 plus VAT
Witness statements: £600 to £4,000 plus VAT (per statement)
Final hearing preparation: £250 to £600 plus VAT
Advocacy (someone attending tribunal for you)
- Preparation of your case and representation at the first day: £1,000 to £2,000 plus VAT
- For each subsequent day thereafter: £1,000 plus VAT

The following are the typical costs which an individual may incur in bringing a claim of unfair or wrongful dismissal:

Initial consultation: £400 to £700 plus VAT
ACAS Early Conciliation: £650 plus VAT
ET1 and Grounds of Claim: £1,000 to £2,500 plus VAT
Schedule of Loss: £350 to £500 plus VAT
Preliminary Hearing: £300 to £1,700 plus VAT
Disclosure: from £600 to £3,000 plus VAT (the costs vary significantly depending on the volume of documents and the complexity of the case)
List of Issues: £500 to £800 plus VAT
Witness statements: £600 to £4,000 plus VAT (per statement)
Final hearing preparation: £250 to £600 plus VAT
Advocacy (someone attending tribunal for you)
- Preparation of your case and representation at the first day: £1,000 to £2,000 plus VAT
- For each subsequent day thereafter: £1,000 plus VAT

For both businesses and individuals, in relation to advocacy, we usually conduct our own advocacy at the Preliminary Hearing level but, where necessary, we may instruct a barrister on your behalf at any stage. Prior to instruction, we will obtain a quote for you in respect of their disbursement fees and this will be agreed with you first before proceeding. You will be required to settle their fee directly with them upon completion of the work; this money would not be paid to us.

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as barristers’ fees. Barristers’ fees can be anywhere between £1,000 to £3,000 plus VAT per day for attending the final hearing, dependant on their seniority and the complexities of the case. The most experienced barristers sometimes charge even more than that. This estimate does not include the barrister’s fees for preparation for a hearing (also known as the brief fee) which can also be in the region of £1,000 to £3,000 plus VAT per day.

What to do next?

Please get in touch to arrange an initial assessment. Please note your first phone call or email is free of charge and there is no obligation to instruct us thereafter.