STATEMENT OF COMPLIANCE
CRIMINAL FINANCES ACT 2017
As a firm, we value our reputation for ethical behaviour and for financial probity and reliability. We recognise that over and above the commission of any crime, any involvement in the facilitation of tax evasion will also reflect adversely on our image and reputation.
We do not tolerate tax evasion, or the facilitation thereof in any circumstances, whether committed by or facilitated by a client, personnel or associated persons/companies.
We are committed to fighting tax evasion and have rigorous policies and procedures in place to detect and prevent the facilitation of tax evasion offences.
We provide regular training on the requirements of the Criminal Finances Act 2017 to all personnel.
We require all personnel to demonstrate the highest standards of honesty at all times and appropriate disciplinary action will be taken wherever tax evasion or the facilitation thereof by any personnel has been proven.
We undertake due diligence on all associated persons/companies to mitigate the risk of facilitation of tax evasion offences and, as part of our due diligence procedures, all agreements with third parties contain suitable provisions to enable termination of such agreements where associated persons/companies are not complying with the provisions of the Criminal Financial Act 2017.
Letter of Claim
Fees for a typical Letter of Claim range from £200 plus VAT for a straightforward case to £800 plus VAT for a more complex matter that requires detailed investigation.
Court Proceedings
Our pricing for brining and defending claims for debt recovery are as follows:
Simple case: £2,000 - £6,000 (excluding VAT)
Medium complexity case: £6,000 – £13,000 (excluding VAT)
High complexity case: £13,000 – £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 request or provide further information about an existing claim
- Defending claims that are brought by litigants in person
- Making or defending a costs application
- Making or defending a specific disclosure application
- The number of witnesses
- The number of documents
Disbursements
Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees, counsel’s fees, expert’s fees. We handle the paying of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.
Counsel’s fees for attending Trial (including preparation) are estimated between £1,500 and £25,000 (depending upon experience of the advocate, the complexity of the matter and the length of Trial).
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 an advising you on merits of your case
- Preparing the claim or defence
- Reviewing and advising on the claim or defence from the other party
- Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process
- Preparing for (and attending) Costs and Case Management Conference
- Preparing Disclosure Lists and exchanging documents with the other party
- Taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses
- Reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements
- Agreeing and preparing Trial Bundle
- Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or case list
- Preparation and attendance at Trial, 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.
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 your claim proceeds to Trial, the time will depend upon the value and complexity of the case. If the case is a simple small claim with a value of under £10,000 it is likely to take 4-6 months. If the matter is of medium complexity with a value between £10,000 and £25,000 it is likely to take 9-12 months. If the matter is of high complexity with a value over £25,000 it is likely to take 10-15 months. This is just an estimate and we will of course be able to give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information and as the matter progresses.
Employment Costs (Individuals)
Our pricing for acting for an individual in bringing claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal
|
Simple case:
(unlawful deductions from wages/redundancy payments/holiday pay/ failure to provide a section 1 statement)
|
£2,000 to £3,500 (excluding VAT)* |
|
Medium complexity case:
(wrongful dismissal/dismissal for misconduct/constructive dismissal)
|
£4,500 to £5,900 (excluding VAT)* |
|
High complexity case:
(dismissal for redundancy, ill health, performance, ‘some other substantial reason’, illegality/final straw constructive dismissal)
|
£7,000 to £12,000 (excluding VAT)* |
These are not estimates of our fees for your particular case. We would need to discuss the issues with you and give you a bespoke estimate of our fees.
* Rates vary depending on the fee earner.
Matters outside the scope of this cost information:
- Discrimination claims
- Whistleblowing claims
- Health and safety
- Trade Union issues
- Costs threats and/or applications (defending them or making them)
We would need to discuss with you these claims in detail before providing costs estimates.
Our employment law lawyer is David Hinton Jones, Director (qualified 1989), £200.00 per hour plus 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 a costs application
- Complex preliminary issues such as whether you have a disability (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 your dismissal
There will be an additional charge for attending a Tribunal Hearing (fees will depend on the number of days the hearing is listed and the preparatory work required): £1,500 to £4,600 (excluding VAT). Generally, we would allow one to three days depending on the complexity of your case.
Things do not always go to plan. We will always alert you to the fact that the assumptions we made in our cost estimate have changed and we will endeavour to give you a revised estimate before incurring additional fees on your behalf where possible. Typical examples of things which result in the costs estimate increasing are:
- Preliminary Issues which need a separate Preliminary Hearing (typically, wrongful dismissal, unfair dismissal and simple cases do not require a preliminary hearing).
- Making applications for more information from the Respondent, either because their defence is unclear, or because they have not provided all the documents we think are relevant.
- Handling additional information from you which was not given to us at the relevant key stage of the case preparation.
- Delays to the tribunal hearing and deadlines.
- Bringing multiple witnesses to give evidence for you.
- If you ask us to attend the tribunal hearing itself with you, as well as Counsel, (typically, this would increase the overall cost by £1,000 - £1,500 plus VAT per day).
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. In the Employment Tribunal, there are currently no fees required to lodge your claim. Disbursements are generally limited to Counsel’s fees.
Counsel’s fees are not always incurred. You have the option of us doing your advocacy or using Counsel. If you do use Counsel, we like to come along to support you at your hearing, but this is not always possible. if we are able to come along then there would be no charge for us attending the hearing (unless you ask us specifically to attend). The estimate of using Counsel is typically between £1,250 to £3,000 (plus VAT) (depending on experience of the advocate) for attending a Tribunal Hearing (including preparation).
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 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 your claim
- Reviewing and advising the response from other party
- Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process
- Preparing of a schedule of loss
- 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 a list of issues, a chronology and/or case list
- Preparation and attendance at Final Hearing, including instructions to Counsel (if necessary)
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.
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 one to four weeks. The Tribunal statistics suggest that the average life span of a tribunal claim which proceeds to a final hearing is 28 weeks. Our experience is that it can take a little longer than this and could be up to 12 months from the time you start early conciliation. However, settlement of a claim can occur at any time. This is just an estimate and we will of course be able to give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information and as the matter progresses.
LITIGATION COSTS
Our standard hourly rates are as follows:
Grade A fee earner: £215 plus VAT per hour
Overall fees will depend upon the nature and complexity of the matter. These can be broken down as follows:
- Letter of claim: fees for a typical letter of claim range from £150 plus VAT for a straightforward case to £750 plus VAT for a more complex matter that requires detailed investigation.
- Court proceedings: our pricing for bringing and defending claims in the Small Claims Track are as follows:
- Small Claims Track: £1,500 - £3,000 (excluding VAT)
- Fast Track (value £10,000 or more): £6,000 - £15,000 (excluding VAT)
- Multi-Track (value in excess of £30,000 where the trial of the action is likely to take more than one day): £10,000 - £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 request or provide further information about an existing claim
- Defending claims that are brought by litigants in person
- Making or defending a costs application
- Making or defending a specific disclosure application
- The number of witnesses
- The number of documents
Disbursements
Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees, Counsel’s fees, expert’s fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.
Counsel’s fees for attending trial (including preparation) are estimated between £1,500 - £25,000 (depending upon experience of the advocate, the complexity of the matter and the length of trial)
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 of your case
- Preparing the claim or defence
- Reviewing and advising on the claim or defence from the other party
- Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process
- Preparing for (and attending) costs and case management conference)
- Preparing disclosure lists and exchanging documents with the other party
- Taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses
- Reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements
- Agreeing and preparing trial bundle
- Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or case list
- Preparation and attendance at Trial, 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.
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 your claim proceeds to trial, the time will depend upon the value and complexity of the case. If the case is a simple small claim with a value of under £10,000 it is likely to take 4-6 months. If the matter is of medium complexity with a value between £10,000 - £30,000 it is likely to take 9-12 months.
If a matter is of high complexity with a value over £30,000 it is likely to take 10-15 months. This is just an estimate and we will of course be able to give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information and as the matter progresses.
